














./ -^ -yy^ww^.-J^ 


















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':;^o^ 



i^'Vo^ 



^ 



THE 



•t-l 



POSTHUMOUS AVORKS 



OF 



JUNIUS. 



L'O WHICH IS PREFIXED, 



AN INQUIRY RESPECTING THE AUTHOR 

ALSO, 

A SKETCH 

OF THE 

LIFE OF JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 



\0N VUI.TUS NON COLOR VM,.S- ' 



NEW-YORK: 

G. & C. & II. CARVILL, 103 BROADWAY. 

?OLD BY CAREY, LEA AND CAREY, PHILADELPHIA ; CARTER AND HENDEE 
BOSTON: E. .1. GOALE, BALTIMORE; P. THOMPSON, WASHINGTON. 



1829. 







Dh5°' 






^Southern District of JVcw- yorU, ss. I> 

JjE IT REiMEMBEREU, That on 
Ihc cighteenlli day of July, A. D. 1829, in the 54tli year of the Independencf! of 
the United States of America, G. & C. & H. Carvill, of the said district, 
have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim 
as proprietors, in the words following, to wit : 

" The Posthumous Works of Junius. To which is prefixed, an Inquiry 
respecting the Author : also a Sketch of the Life of John Home Tookc. 
" Non vultus non color unus." 

In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled " an act 
lor the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and 
books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein 
mentioned." And also to an act, entitled " an act, supplementary to act, 
entitled an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of 
maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during 
the times therein mentioned, and ex lending the benefits thereof to- the arts of 
designing, engraving, and etching histori/?a' and other prints." 

FIIED. J. BETTS, 
Clerk of the Southern District of New- York. 



.1. SEYMOUR, PRINTEU, JOHN-STREET, 



•/ 



67 

DEDICATION. 



TO SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. 

I DEDICATE this volume to you, in testimony of the 
respect and admiration with which I have marked 
your pubUc course. — I dedicate it to you, because 
you were the steady, ardent, and generous friend of 
that very extraordinary man who occupies the chief 
station in this work — John Horne Tooke. A man 
who, like yourself, always stood before his country 
as the great constitutional expounder of its laws, and 
the zealous and powerful advocate of just principles 
of government; who, unawed by the threats of 
tyranny, continued through a long life the unyeilding 
enemy of oppression; and whose generous efforts 
and sufferings in the cause of freedom deserve to be 
held in the grateful remembrance of posterity. 

THE COMPILER. 

New.Yorky July 18, 1829. 



PREFACE. 



The propriety of the title of this volume, " The 
Posthumous Works of Junius," will appear evident 
to the reader from remarks relating to it in the course 
of the work. 

The obstacles thrown in the way by the writer of 
the letters of Junius, to screen himself from detec- 
tion, having hitherto proved insurmountable, has 
induced many persons to affect a total indifference to 
the subject. It cannot however be disguised that, 
although a matter of mere curiosity, there is still a 
strong desire to ascertain the author of these far- 
famed letters. Curiosity, when once powerfully 
excited, remains a source of anxiety and uneasiness 
till gratified. Many of the subjects which have 
occupied the most intense application of the human 
mind will be found, on close examination, to amount 
to nothing more than the gratification of, it might be 
fiaid, the ruling passion of man, curiosity. 

In regard to the mysterious and long-sought author 



I'KEFACi;. 



of Junius, the compiler of this work, like many before 
him, is confident that he has fixed upon the right 
man, and, whether his readers agree with him or not, 
as he has reduced the arguments and speculations 
upon the subject to a narrow compass, and added 
works of the author and others not generally known, 
he hopes the volume will not prove uninteresting. 

Stephens's Life of John Home Tooke, one of the 
most celebrated poUtical characters of the last 
century, has never been republished in the United 
States. The sketch here given, therefore, it is pre- 
sumed, will be gratifying to every American who 
cherishes a love of civil liberty, and feels a partiality 
for its defenders in any quarter of the world. In fact, 
Americans ought to feel grateful to the memory of 
Tooke for the bold stand he assumed, in opposition to 
his government, at the commencement of our revolu- 
tionary war, to stay the approaching conflict. 

That the style in which the letters under the signa- 
ture of Junius were written, was not the natural, 
common style of the author, may easily be discovered 
by a comparison of them with his letters bearing 
other signatures; which for the most part, would not 
be supposed by any one, not acquainted with the fact, 
to be written by the same hand. In proof of this 
assertion, the reader is referred to letters signed 
Veteran, Lucius, Cleophas, &c. copied into this 
volume. There are, however, exceptions to this 
general remark. 



PllEl'ACE. 



Dr. Good, 111 his Preliminary Essay to G. W oodfall'ri 
Junius, observes that, " From the extraordinary effect 
produced by his first letter under the signature of 
Junius, he resolved to adhere to this signature exclu- 
sively, in all his subsequent letters, in which he took 
more than ordinary pains." The style of this letter, 
therefore, different from that in v^^hich he had been in 
the habit of Avriting, seems to have been his guide 
in the composition of the letters which followed, and 
to which he attached the same signature. In fact. 
Junius acknowledges himself what is here intimated. 
In a letter signed Philo-Junius, Nov. 14, 1769, in 
remarking upon a previous letter under his usual 
signature, he says, " Without considering the oma- 
7Rented style he has ac/op/ec?, I determined to look farther 
into the matter before I decided upon the merits of 
his letter." 

When the letters were printing in volumes, Junius 
thus writes to Mr. Woodfall : 

" The inclosed completes all the materials that i 
can give you. I have done my part. Take care you 
do yours. I have no view but to serve you, and con- 
sequently have only to desire that the Dedication and 
Preface may be correct. Look to it. If you take it 
upon yourself, I will not forgive your suffering it to be 
spoiled. / weigh every loord ; and every alteration^ in. 
my eyes at least, is a blemish.'''' 

In another note to the same, he says : 

" In page 25, it should be the instead of yoiu". thi> 



Vill PREFACE. 

is a looful mistake ; — pray take care for the luture — 
keep a page for errata." 

This remark had reference to the commencement 
of letter, No. 3, addressed to Sir WilUam Draper, 
and related to the style only, and not to the sense or 
grammatical construction of the sentence. It is as 
follows : 

" Your defence of lord Granby does honor to the 
goodness of your heart." The passage remains the 
same to this day, in all the copies examined by the 
compiler, except G. Woodfall's. 

A cotemporary writer with Junius observes, that 
••though he advances with the largest strides, his 
steps are measured. His expressions are selected 
with the most anxious care, and his periods termi- 
nated in harmonious cadence. Thus he captivates 
by his confidence, by the turn of his sentences, and 
by the force of his words. His readers are persuaded 
because they are agitated, and convinced because 
they are pleased. Their assent, therefore, is never 
withheld ; though they scarcely know why, or even 
to what it is yielded." 

There can be no doubt but that Junius was ex- 
tremely cautious, in his future writings, to avoid the 
precise, measured style of these letters from fear of 
detection. A close imitation of them, therefore, in- 
stead of furnishing proof of authorship, ought to be 
viewed as affording pretty conclusive evidence to the 
contrary. The style of no writings subsequent to 



PREFACE. tX 

their publication, can by any means be relied upon 
as a guide to discover the author. The talents, 
character, avowed political sentiments, and the per- 
severance and boldness with which they were main- 
tained, are the only criterions upon which any < onfi- 
dence can be placed. The opinion here advanced is 
corroborated by the Edinburgh Review for June, 
1826 ; where it is asserted that, " almost every con- 
tributor to a newspaper, during the twenty years which 
followed the letters, was an imitator of Junius.-' 

In the compilation of this volume, to save the labor 
of transcribing in referring to the various works from 
which extracts are taken, the marks distinguishing 
the quotations from the comments of the compiler, 
have in a few instances been neglected, particularly at 
the close of some of the extracts. The sense of the 
passages will however readily correct these omissions. 

In addition to the many excellent remarks taken 
from the Preliminary Essay prefixed to WoodfalPs 
Junius, a great part of the first hundred pages are 
employed in endeavors to remove any prepossessions 
that might exist in favor of rival candidates that stood 
in the way of the person to whom the letters are 
attributed in this work, and also to point out the 
deceptions made use of by Mr. Woodfall to screen 
the real author from suspicion. This course, although 
somewhat tedious in the detail, was deemed neces- 
sary to prepare the reader for a favorable reception 
of what followed. 

1) 



PREFACE. 



Nothing but facts can be of essential use m a dis- 
cussion upon the authorship of Junius. Essays con- 
sisting of conjectures and surmises drawn from pre- 
mises not substantially supported, in however elegant 
langiiage they may be couched, can never avail. A 
work upon the subject, to entitle it to any weight, 
must be a book of documents. 

In bringing together, in the first instance, such a 
mass of testimony as is produced in this volume, the 
indulgence of the reader will no doubt be granted for 
any trifling defects in the arrangement. The ground 
taken, and the inferences drawn from facts by refer- 
ence either to the letters of Junius or to other works, 
are the only topics upon which criticism can be of 
any importance ; and in this respect the book is with 
confidence submitted to the most rigid examination. 

J.F. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Introductiok, •* 

CHAPTER H. 
Extracts from the Advertisement and Preliminary Essay prefixed to G. 
Woodfall's Junius, with Remarks, 16 

CHAPTER III. 
Extracts continued — Examination of the Claims of persons who have been 
named as the Author of these Letters, 37 

CHAPTER IV. 

Claims of Sir Philip Francis to the Authorship of Junius's Letters, examined, 51 

CHAPTER V. 

Remarks of Mr. Francis on the Regency Question — Passages in the Writings 
and Speeches of Mr. Francis compared with Passages in the F.ettcrs of 

.Junius — Remarks, . 68 

CHAPTER VI. 

Claims of Charles Lloyd to the Authorship of Junius's Letters, 93 

CHAPTER VII. 

Sketch of the life of John Home Tooke — His education and early views — 
First journey to France, 103 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The subject of this Memoir determines to take an active part in the Disputes 
of that day — Revisits France ; where he meets with Mr. Wilkes — Copy 
of a singular letter transmitted from Montpelier — He repairs to Italy, . 1 14 

CHAPTER IX. 

Account of Mr. Home's exertions to bring to justice the murderers of Allen, 
Bigby, and George Clarke — His interference in the affair of John Doyle, and 
John VaUine — Comparison of his conduct with that of Junius in the fore- 
going cases, 149 

CHAPTER X. 

Dispute with George Onslow — Junius and Home act as one man in this 

affair — ^Reflections, 160 

CHAPTER XI. 

Mr. Home suggests the idea of a Reply to the king, and obtains a statue for 
the lord mayor— Founds the " Society for Supporting the Bill of Rights" — 
ronntenanres Bingley in his refusal to answer Interrogatories, . , . 175 



XII CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Letters from John Home to John Wilkes, 196 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Introductory Remnrks — Examples of the practice and skill of Junius in 
attacking and defending himself — Remarks on the letter to the duke of 
Bedford — Sentiments of Junius in respect to Wilkes — Criticism on the 
Correspondence of Junius and Home, • 243 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Private correspondence between Junius and John Wilkes, 307 

CHAPTER XV. 

Private letters of Junius addressed to H. S. Woodfall, 359 

APPENDIX. 

I. Eloquence of Junius 403 

II. Examination of Woodfall, 411 

III. Destruction of the Jesuits in France, 416 

IV. Eulogy on John Home Tooke, . . . . : 417 

V. Junius discovered, 420 

VI, Letter from David Garrick, 423 

' VII. Birth-day of our liberty, 424 

VIII. Letter to Major Cartwright .' 425 

IX. Anecdotes and Sentiments, 425 



ERRATA. 

The passage, at the top of page 17, should read as follows: ("to adopt liis own laDguage) were 
attributed to him ; or from numerous other casual hints both in the acknowledged and more 
palpable Miscellaneous Letters " &c. 

lo pages 203, 204, in some copies there is a repetition , in others an omission ; the latter should 
read thus ; beginning at the bottom line of the text page 203. "but the rule does not extend to 
you : for in those pamphlets, even if I had written them, there is no reflection upon you." kc- 
Page 18 line 3 of notes ybr declarations read declaration. 
■' " " " " " declamations " declamation. 

Text- " to this passage " to this. 
" " Francis '' Junius. 

Note '' which latter " which. 
" " commentating " commenting'. 

Test " equivocal " unequivocal. 
" " course " coarse. 

" " these " those. 



50 " 13 


78 ' 


' 1 


198 ' 


' 3 


237 ' 


' 22 


275 " 


' 27 


290 ' 


' 31 


368 ' 


' fi 



POSTHUMOUS WORKS, &c. 



CHAPTER 1. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The established reputation of the Letters of Junius, ah'eady 
familiar to the public, is a sufficient guarantee that his other 
works are not deficient in talents and interest. 

Although many of his communications to the Printer of the 
Public Advertiser, under various signatures, were in their nature 
ephemeral, and not calculated to outlive a newspaper pub- 
lication, yet some of them were of a different description, 
and are very worthy to appear in connexion with the Letters 
signed Junius ; and which it was the original intention of the 
author to have selected and combined with them, in the first 
edition of the letters in the book form. This, however, was 
relinquished in consequence of his anxiety to get out the pub- 
lication before the meeting of parliament at that period. A 
judicious choice of these Letters will, no doubt, prove satisfac- 
tory to the reader. 

The private notes to Woodfall, the printer", exhibit the cha- 
racter and views of the author, and consequently become, in a 
measure, necessary adjuncts to the Public Letters, 

The confidential correspondence with Wilkes, I will ventui'c 
to say, exhibits the most finished duplicity and deception that 
were ever successfully practised upon the credulity of any man 
or society of men in any age or country. 

2 



io 



INTRODUCTION. 



TJie dispute and coiTespondence of Messrs. Wilkes and 
Home, will be found to be an important link in the machinery 
of the works of Junius, and in fact, to contain the key, if the 
writer is not very much deceived, of the hitherto unexplained 
mystery attached to them. 

" The question respecting the author of Junius's Letters is 
thought, we believe, by philosophers, to be one of more curi- 
osity than importance. We are very far from pretending that 
the happiness of mankind is materially interested in its deter- 
mination ; or that it involves any great and scientific truths. 
But it must be viewed as a point of literary history ; and among 
discussions of this description, it ranks very high. After all, 
are there many points of civil or military history really more 
interesting to persons living in the present times ? Is the guilt 
of Queen Mary, or the character of Richard III. very nearly 
connected with the welfare of the existing generation ? In- 
deed, we would rather caution, even the most profound of phi- 
losophers, against making too nice an inquiry into the practical 
importance of scientific truths ; for assuredly there are number- 
less propositions, of which the curiosity is more easily descried 
than the utility, in all the branches of science, and especially in 
the severer ones — the professors of which are the most prone 
to deride an inquiry like that about Junius. That the commu- 
nity has long taken an extraordinary interest in this question, — 
that a great and universal curiosity has been felt to know who 
wrote the Letters, seems quite sufficient to justify a good deal 
of pains in the research, and satisfaction in the discovery. He, 
who should find out the longitude, would, no doubt, more sub- 
stantially benefit the world ; yet we dare to assert that for one, 
who really profited by the discovery, a thousand would derive 
nothing beyond the mere gratification of curiosity; and the 
inventor's fame would depend chiefly on their voice. Is any 
man much the better for knowing how the alkalies are compos- 
ed ? In his circumstances, no one — but, in his scientific capa- 
city, every one, who regards the gratification of a learned curi- 
osity. Let us not be too curious in settling the relative impor- 
tance of literary labour, or even of scientific pursuits. It is a 
!rood thing to find out the tmth, at all events : and the pleasure 



INTKODICTION. 



U 



ol" knowing what was bei'ore unknown, torms, perliaps in all 
cases, the gi'eater proportion of the value derived from the 
inquiry." — The Edinburgh Revieiv, (of Mr. Taylor's book on 
Junius,) 57, 94. 

The following notice is taken of the works enumerated for 
the purpose of precluding the necessity of being more particu- 
lar in referring to them, which will occasionally be required : — 

I. " The Letters of Junius, with notes and illustrations, his- 
torical, political, biographical, and critical ; by Robert Heron, 
Esq., in two volumes." — Philadelphia, 1804, from the London 
edition of 180L 

IL " The Letters of Junius complete, interspersed with the 
letters and articles to which he replied, with notes biographical 
and explanatory ; also a prefatory inquiry respecting the real 
author, in two volumes. By John Almon. London, 1806." 

Mr. Almon was a bookseller and publisher in London at the 
time of Junius's first appearance, and, in fact, was prosecuted 
for reprinting his thirty-fifth letter, addressed to the king. 

III. "The Identity of Junius, wdth a distinguished living 
character established. By John Taylor." — New- York, 1818, 
copied from the second English edition of the same year. 

IV. " Junius Unmasked ; or Lord George Sackville proved 
to be Junius. Anonymous." Boston, 1828. 

This work purports to give additional testimony to a " Criti- 
cal Inquiry," by a Mr. Coventry, advocating the same side of 
the question, published at London, 1825. 

V. " The Claims of Sir Philip Francis, K. B., to the au- 
thorship of Junius's Letters disproved ; also some Inquiry into 
the Claims of the late Charles Lloyd, Esq., to the authorship of 
them, &c. By E. H. Barker, Esq. London, 1828." 

This volume being intended as a supplement to the common 
editions of the Letters of Junius, sucli general remarks in the 
Preface and Preliminary Essay, prefixed to G. Woodfall's edi- 
tion of the complete political works of the author as may ap- 
pear essential in respect to the Letters themselves, the author- 
ship, &c. will be extracted ; avoiding, at the same time, to 
overload the pages with minute, irrelevant, or trifling matter, 
tending to fatigue and confuse the readej-. 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

Commentators upon Junius have given themselves a vast 
deal of trouble and perplexity by assuming w^hatever he says 
of himself as indisputable facts, when, as a general rule, the 
direct contrary might probably be more safely relied on. Mr. 
Barker remarks that " Mr. Taylor and the other writers on the 
subject of Junius, refer to Junius's own declarations about him- 
self as unquestionable authority." Whereas, he observes, " his 
object was profound concealment, and this concealment was so 
necessary to his personal safety, that he would naturally take 
various means to mislead his readers in their inquiries after the 
mysterious writer." 

Speculations like the following have been published sufficient 
to compose a volume. The tall " stature of Junius," says Mr. 
Taylor, " may be ascertained from a perusal of his Letters," 
because, " it is the custom only of tall men to attach, very com- 
monly, the epithet little to those whom they are inclined to 
treat with disrespectful freedom." It has been contended that 
Junius was old, because he alleged his " age and figure" as an 
excuse for declining to accept a " ball ticket for the lord mayor's 
day," from Mr. Wilkes, to dance a minuet with his daughter : 
and moreover made use of the following expression : " after 
long experience of the world," in a letter to Woodfall. It is 
said also, that he must have been an old soldier, for he adopts 
" Veteran" as a signature to some of his letters, and uses correct 
technical militaiy phrases on several occasions. But then, his 
letter to Junia is a puzzler, for that indicates youth. Thus has 
Junius been bandied about, and followed into every nook and 
corner, while he, like a Will-with-a-wisp, evades his pursuers at 
every turn. 

According to the ground that has been taken to ascertain the 
person of Junius, he must have belonged to that nation against 
which he appeared to entertain the most inveterate prejudices : 
for, he says expressly, in one of his miscellaneous letters, signed 
" Scotus," and addressed to Lord Barrington : " My lord, I am 
a Scotchman." But in fact, Junius is most happily described, 
in the peculiar manner of Shakspeare, in the declaration of 
lago respecting himself, " / am not what I am" and all search 
after him with a reliance on his own account of himself, will 
ever prove vain and fruitless. 



IM'RODUCTlOiN. 



13 



The assertion of Junius, in the Preface to his Letters, that 
" If I am a vain man, my gratification Ues within a narrow cir- 
cle. I am the sole depository of my own secret, and it shall 
perish with me," is of the same character with his other declara- 
tions in cases relating personally to himself. On the above pas- 
sage, Dr. Good* remarks : '• This must be understood only in 
general terms. From the following passage in Private Letters, 
No. 8, it is obvious that there were persons to whom the writer 
unbosomed himself; although there is still every reason for be- 
lieving that such persons formed, as he has expressed it above, 
only a narrow circle. ' The last letter you printed, was idle and 
improper, and I assure you, printed against my own opinion. 
The truth is, there are people about me, whom I would wish 
not to contradict, and who had rather see Junius in the papers, 
ever so improperly, than not at all.' " To the same eifect is a pas- 
sage in Junius's Pubhc Letters, No. 36. addressed to the duke of 
Grafton. 

" But, in the relation you have borne to this country, you have 
no title to indulgence ; and if I had followed the dictates of my 
own opinion, I never should have allowed you the respite of a 
moment. In your public character, you have injured every 
subject of the empire ; and though an individual is not authorised 
to forgive the injuries done to society, he is called upon to assert 
his separate share in the public resentment. I submitted, how- 
ever, to the judgment of men, more moderate, perhaps more 
candid, than myself. For my own part, I do not pretend to 
understand those prudent forms of decorum, those gentle rules 
of discretion, which some men endeavour to unite with the 
conduct of the gi-eatest and most hazardous affairs. Engaged 
in the defence of an honourable cause, I would take a decisive 
part. I should scorn to provide for a future retreat, or to keep 
terms with a man who preserves no measures with the public. 
Neither the abject submission of deserting his post in the hour 
of danger, nor even the sacred shield of cowardice should protect 
iiim. I Avould pursue him through life, and try the last exertion 



Dr. John Mason Good, editor of G. Woodfall's .lunin?. 



11 IXTROBI CTIOX. 

of my abilities lo preserve the perishable infamy of his name, and 
make it immortal." 

In his private letter to AVoodfall, No. 51, he says, "the gen- 
tleman who transacts the Conveyancing part of our correspond- 
ence, tells me there was much difficulty last night. For this 
reason, and because it could be no way material for me to see 
a paper on Saturday which is to appear on Monday, I resolved 
not to send for it." The editor of G. Woodfall's edition of 
Junius, who, it will appear throughout the work, was under the 
influence of two hostile principles, his conscience on the one 
hand urging him to declare the truth, whilst his promise not to 
expose the author on the other, was stimulating him to deceive, 
notwithstanding what he had said respecting the narrow circle 
of Junius's confidants, here insinuates that the person alluded 
to was only the carrier of despatches, and " was not intrusted 
with the full scope and object of his agency." Independently 
of the ridiculous aflfectation of styling a mere carrier or conveyer 
of packets, a gentleman who transacts any part of a corres- 
pondence, the term conveyancing will not admit of the con- 
struction here given. Although this gentleman did upon this 
occasion apply for papers for Jimius, he is evidently designated 
as the transcriber of the letters. Conveyancing is a technical, 
term in familiar use among lawyers, and Junius was too well 
read in the law to make use of it in the supposed ridiculous and 
inproper manner. Webster defines it, " the act or business of 
drawing deeds, leases, &c" ; and as these are generally tran- 
scribed from printed copies, a lawyer would be very apt to 
apply the term analogically to the drafting of any other papers. 
Besides, from the care observable in the composition of the 
etters of Junius, it is evident that the first drafts of them must 
have been subjected to considerable correction before they were 
submitted to the press. 

We find that Junius was extremely anxious to obtain from 
Mr. Wilkes a correct copy of one of his letters to the Suppor- 
ters of the Bill of Rights, and in consequence of his request not 
having been complied with in time, he was under the necessity 
of furnishing it " from his own notes." And in respect to a 
letter he addressed to Mr. Garrick, he writes to Woodfall, "I 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

would send the above to Garrick directly, but that I would 
avoid having this hand too commonly seen. Oblige me then 
so much as to have it copied in any hand, and sent by the penny 
post." In this case, he could certainly not allude to his own 
hand-writing, but to that of the person usually employed to copy 
his letters. In short, it was not in the power of man to perform 
the labor required in carrying on the correspondences of Junius 
without assistance ; and it is probable that not a single public 
letter of his was sent to the printer in his own hand- writing. 
One assistant, at least, must have been constantly employed in 
transcribing. 

Besides the confidential agents required by Junius to procure 
information and prepare the letters for the press, I shall, in the 
course of this work, endeavour to show, that Henry S. Wood- 
fall was made acquainted with the author before the publication 
of the letters in volumes, and not long after the receipt of Ju- 
nius's letter to him, dated Nov. 10. 1771, in which he says, " I 
am persuaded you are too honest a man to contribute in any 
way to my destruction. Act honorably by me — and at a proper 
time you shall know me." That his son , G. Woodfall, at the time 
of publishing his complete edition of the public and private letters 
of Junius, as well as Dr. Good, the editor of that edition, were 
also in possession of the. name of the author : — And that Alexan- 
der Stephens, Esq. the biogTapherof John Home Tooke, and Sir 
Francis Burdett were, some time before the death of Junius, 
ranked among his confidential friends. 

The evidence to establish these facts respecting all the above 
gentlemen, excepting the one last mentioned, arises from their 
contradictions, suppressions of facts, and incorrect statements, 
evidently done with a view of concealing the author of the 
letters; but which consequently operate most powerfully to 
expose him. 

In making these remarks, I would by no means wish to be 
understood as impugning the character of those to whom they 
apply. They were, no doubt, under the most solemn engage- 
ments of secrecy ; and if their honorable endeavors to fulfil their 
obligations should produce a contrary effect from that intended, 
no blame caii be charged to their account. 



!(.) EXTllACT^ FROM li. W()OL»PAI.l/s 



CHAPTER II. 

Extracts from the Anvertisement and Preliminary Essay prejixed 
to O. Woodf all's Junius, with Remarks. 

ADVERTISEMENT. 

'• The present edition contains, besides the letters pubUshed 
by authority of Junius himself, others written by the same au- 
thor, under various signatures, which appeared in the Public 
Advertiser from April 1767, to May 1772, together with his 
Private Letters, peculiarly curious and interesting, addressed 
to his printer, the late Mr. H. S. Woodfall, and his confidential 
correspondence with Mr. Wilkes. These latter papers only 
reached the proprietor's hands after a considerable part of the 
work had been printed off, and will account for the unavoidable 
omission of any notice of them in the Preliminary Essay. 

It is in perfect consistency with the plan at first proposed by 
the author, but which he was compelled in some degree to depart 
from, as remarked in the Preliminary Essay, that the edition 
now offered contains, independently of his more finished com- 
positions under the signature of Junius and Philo Junius, letters 
under other signatures, bearing nevertheless characteristic and 
unequivocal marks of proceeding from the same pen ; and 
which, though written perhaps with more haste than the former, 
exhibit merit enough to accompany them ; while they possess 
no small portion of additional value as comments upon points 
that require elucidation. 

The editor, in thus deciding upon materials which lie scat- 
tered through what the author terms six " solid folios," will be 
found seldom to have relied altogether upon his own judgment, 
but to have availed himself of a variety of minute clues result- 
ing from incidental references, or open acknowledgments in the 
Private Letters ; direct charges of contemporary laborers in the 
same political vineyard, which were not disavowed by Junius 
himself, as it was his custom whenever " other persons' sins." 



PRELIMINARy ESSAY. 17 

numerous other casual hints both in the acknowledged and more 
(to adopt liis own language,) were attributed to him ; or from 
palpable Miscellaneous Letters, of which the reader, it is pre- 
sumed, will meet with instances enough to satisfy himself as he 
proceeds. 

To the author's explanatory notes, the present editor has added 
such others through the entire progress of the work, as the 
intervening lapse of time has seemed to render necessary, and 
though some of them are longer than he could have wished, yet 
from the circumstance of their having been written in answer 
to letters front Junius, he has thought it more desirable that they 
should appear in the form in which they are now offered, than 
be pressed into the text of the work, by which means its present 
size must have been very considerably extended ; and the ^>/a», 
as devised by the author, have been in some instances departed 
from. Many of these notes, moreover, selected from the Public 
Advertiser, will be found in themselves extremely curious and 
valuable, while at the same time they are no where else to be 
met with.* The text has been carefully collated with the jour- 
nal in which the letters originally appeared, and very numerous 
errors which have crept into all the editions, except the genuine 
one published by Mr. H. S. Woodfall himself, and which have 
been considerably multiplied in the later impressions, have been 
carefully corrected or expunged.f 



* These remarks, it may be presumed, are intended as an apology for introduc- 
ing in the notes, letters and other writings wliich deserve no place among the Let- 
ters of Junius, othenvise, than as composing a part of his poiilical works ; which, 
it seems, was the wish of tiie author should be published entire. To say that 
these " are no where else to be met with," is incorrect. I shall notice these pro, 
ductions as they occasionally occur. 

A very small portion of the notes, by the way, were written in answer to letters 
from Junius. The contrary assertion was no doubt made to divert the attention 
of the reader from the absurdity of admitting into the work matter irrelevant and 
disconnected with it, excepting for reasons above stated. 

Some of the notes signed ' Editor,' indicate such minute knowledge of men 
and circumstances connected with the times in which the letters were written, 
as to render it probable that they were the productions of the author. — ,iin. Ed. 

t A gentleman, much attached to the writings of Junius, and who is a very 
accurate English scholar, has favored me with his manuscript corrections of errors 
in these Letters. Most of them, however, are corrected in the copy before us ; yet 

3 



18 



EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODFALL S 



The various fac-similes of the hand-writuig of Juniu&v 
which are executed with pecuhar fideUty, have been selected 
from those parts of his manuscripts which present the greatest 
diversity of penmanship, though the differences, except in that 
numbered eight,* are so trifling, that a hard or a soft, a good or 
a bad pen, is altogether sufficient to account for them. The 
papers which have been copied for specimens of the writing of 
Junius, will be found in their due order, among the Private 
Letters. The other fac-similes, as well as the seals, have been 
delineated with equal accuracy. 

The proprietor feels it a duty incumbent upon him, before 
he closes this advertisement, to make his warmest acknow- 
ledgments to several distinguished characters who have in- 
spected the papers in his possession, and who have kindly 
afforded him much valuable assistance. 

To the gentleman to whom he stands so much indebted for 
the very valuable addition of the private correspondence be- 
tween Junius and ^Ir, Wilkes, and which probably renders the 
whole of the political writings of the former complete, he begs 
most particularly to return his mifeigned gratitude. 

To his more immediate personal friends for the warm interest 
they have evinced in the success of his undertaking, he feels 
far beyond what he is able to express. And he now submits 
these volumes to the judgment of the political and literary 
world, with deference and respect, in the hope that his earnest 
endeavours to present them for the first time with a complete 
and perfect edition of the Letters, and, as far as may be, the 
Political Works, of Junius, will not be wholly unsuccessful, 
and that he shall experience the further satisfaction of finding 
it acknowledged, that the task has been at least impartially exe- 
cuted. 

Paternoster Row, April 15, 1812." 



there are-lvvo in this edition that are not unworthy of notice, and which I will here 
point out for the benefit of future publishers. One occurs in the first letter, near 
the close of the sixth paragraph, viz : declarations, instead of declamations. The 
other is found in the twentieth letter, third line from the beginning : moderately, 
instead of modestly. The true reading of this passage is given in Almon's edition , 
=-*3m. Ed. 
* This is the number made use of in this volume. 



PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 



19 



The phrase " Political Works," is printed in the same man- 
ner as above, in Woodfall's edition ; which evidently indicates 
the editor's knowledge that Junius had written other works. If 
he had not known this fact, he could not with any propriety have 
made use of the expression political; but would have said, 
" all the works of Junius, of which he had any knowledge," or 
something to that effect. The inference is irresistible ; and the 
work, in the mind of the editor, written by the same author, 
was, I have no doubt, a celebrated philological work, entitled 
•' Epea Pteroenta." 

I shall omit no opportunity of adducing proofs of this edi- 
tor's knowledge of Junius ; because, that fact being established, 
his evasions will, to an almost absolute certainty, point out the 
author. 

PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 

"• It was not from personal vanity, but a fair estimate of his 
own merit, and the importance of the subject on which he 
wrote, that the author of these letters predicted their immor- 
tality. The matter and the manner, the times and the talents 
they disclose, the popularity which attended them at their outset, 
the impression they produced on the public mind, and the tri- 
umph of the doctrines they inculcate, all equally concur in 
stamping for them a passport to the most distant posterity. 

In their range, these letters comprise a period of about five 
years ; from the middle of 1767 to the middle of 1772 ; "and 
never has the history of this country, from its origin to the pre- 
sent hour, exhibited a period of equal extent that more peremp- 
torily demanded the severe, decisive, and overpowering pen of 
such a writer as Junius. 

It was at this period, that the letters successively made their 
appearance in the Public Advertiser. The classical chastity of 
their language, the exquisite force and perspicuity of their ar- 
gument, the keen severity of their reproach, the extensive in- 
formation they evinced, their fearless and decisive tone, and, 
above all, their stem and steady attachment to the purest prin- 
ciples of the constitution, acquired for them, with an almost 



'20 EXTRACTS FROM G. WOOJDFALl's 

electric speed, a popularity which no series of letters have since 
possessed, nor perhaps ever will ; and what is of far greater 
consequence, diffused among the body of the people a clearer 
knowledge of their constitutional rights than they had ever be- 
fore attained, and animated them with a more determined spirit 
to maintain them inviolate. Enveloped in the cloud of a ficti- 
tious name, the writer of these philippics, unseen himself, be- 
held with secret satisfaction, the vast influence of his labours, 
and enjoyed, though, as we shall afterwards observe, not always 
without apprehension, the universal hunt that was made to de- 
tect him in his disguise. He beheld the people extolling liim, 
the court execrating him, and ministers and more than ministers 
trembhng beneath the lash of his invisible hand. 

But, after all, who or what was Junius ? this shadow of a name, 
who thus shot his unerring arrows from an impenetrable con- 
cealment, and punished without being perceived ? The ques- 
tion is natural ; and it has been repeated almost without inter- 
mission,from the appearance of his first letter. It is not unnatural, 
moreover, from the pertinacity with which he has at all times 
eluded discovery, that the vanity of many political writers of 
inferior talents should have induced them to lay an indirect 
claim to his Letters, and especially after the danger of respon- 
sibility had considerably ceased. Yet while the editor of the 
present impression does not undertake to communicate the real 
name of Junius, he pledges himself to prove, from incontro- 
vertible evidence, afforded by the private letters of Junius him- 
self during the period in question, in connexion with other 
documents, that 7Wt one of these pretenders has ever had the 
smallest right to the distinction which some of them have ardently 
coveted. 

The private and confidential letters, addressed to the late 
Mr. Woodfall, are now for the first time made public by his son, 
who is in possession of the author's autographs ; and from the 
various facts and anecdotes they disclose, not only in relation 
to this extraordinary character, but to other characters as well, 
they cannot fail of being highly interesting to the political world. 
To ha.\e published these letters at an earlier period, would have 
been a gross breach of trust and decorum ; the term of trust. 



rilELIMINARy ESSAY. 



•21 



iiowever, seems at length to hace expired ; most of" the parties 
have paid the debt of nature, and should any be yet living, the 
length of time M^hich has since elapsed has so completely blunt- 
ed the asperity of the strictures they contain, that they could 
scarcely object to so remote a publication of them. Junius, in 
the career of his activity, was the man of the people ; and when 
ihe former can receive no injury from the disclosure, the latter 
have certainly a claim to every information that can be commu- 
nicated concerning him." 

Respecting the manuscripts of Junius, the editor makes the 
following remarks : 

" There must have been some misunderstanding either of the 
extent of the question, or the nature of the answer in that part 
of a conversation which Mr. Campbell, in his Life of Hugh 
Boyd, states to have occurred between Mr. H. S. Woodfall, 
(editor and one of the proprietors of the Public Advertiser,) and 
himself, in relation to the preservation of these autographs. ' I 
proceeded,' says Mr. Campbell, ' to ask him if he had preserved 
any of the manuscripts of Junius ? He said he had not.' p. 
164. The veracity of Mr. H. S. Woodfall is well known to 
have been unimpeachable ; and it is by no means the intention 
of the editor to suspect that of Mr. Campbell. It is probable 
that Mr. Woodfall understood the question to be, whether he 
had regularly preserved the manuscripts of Junius, or had pre- 
served any of the manuscripts of Junius which had publicly 
appeared under that signature ? No man, not even Mr. Camp- 
bell himself, could have suspected Mr. Woodfall to have been 
guilty of a wilful falsehood ; nor can any advantage be assigned 
or even conceived that could possibly have resulted from such 
a falsehood, had it taken place." 

The foregoing passage contains a pretty broad insinuation 
to be sure, that the original letters of Junius had been destroy- 
ed, or at least, had not been preserved by Mr. H. S. Woodfall ; 
which, by the way, must have been well known to his son, and 
liis not openly declaring it here can only be accounted for on 
the supposition of his being obligated not to reveal or weaken 
any part of the mystery respecting every thing that bore the 
most distant relation to Junius. Mr. Woodfall Iiowever, has. 



22 EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODPALl's 

since the publication of the above, with apparent reluctance- 
avowed the fact in this case ; which is of some consequence, 
because it goes to corroborate the statement of a gentleman 
who, in my opinion, knew much more of this affair than Mr. 
Woodfall. 

Mr. Barker, p. 67 of his Preface, observes, that " the only 
specimens of Junius's writing, whether in a real or feigned hand, 
whether in his own hand or in the hand of an amanuensis, on 
which reliance can be placed, are the private letters of Junius 
to Mr. H. S. Woodfall, in the possession of the present Mr. 
Woodfall." Which he confirms by the testimony of the latter 
as follows : 1. By a letter addressed to him from Mr. Coventry, 
dated Jan. 5, 1828, who says, " Mr. Woodfall declares that 
every year it was his father's custom to destroy all the papers 
of the preceding year ; but with respect to Junius's correspon- 
dence, there is every reason to believe, that after such letters 
were printed, it was the invariable custom to return them to 
Junius, through the medium of the coffee-houses. Without any 
private opinion, we have sufficient evidence from the correspon- 
dence between him and Mr. Woodfall, that such packets were 
regularly sealed and delivered. What else could they contain ?" 
2. By a letter from Mr. Charles Butler, author of " Reminis- 
cences," who thus writes : " I know from Mr. Woodfall himself, 
that he thinks the originals of Junius's Letters were destroyed 
by his father ; but, as Junius's letters had so much real, and so 
much possible importance, I cannot believe the fact. Mr. 
Woodfall, however, is persuaded of it ; and is convinced, that 
somehow or other, I am mistaken in thinking I saw the original 
letters in the custody of Mr. Wilkes." 

Mr. John Home Tooke, long before the above disclosures 
were made, asserted that the original letters Jiad been all sur- 
rendered, as is stated by his biographer, Mr. Stephens, in vol. ii. 
p. 358, as follows : 

" Some conversation occurred that day, (June 21, 1807,) at 
dinner, relative to Junius. He laughed at the idea of Mr. 
Boyd's being the author, as affirmed by Almon. On being told 
that Mr. Henry Sampson Woodfall had intimated that he was 
in possession of several letters from him, in a fine Italian hand. 



PRELIMINARY ESSAY. '2'S 

and seemingly written by means of a crow-quill, he observed, 
' that Mr. Woodfall was a very honest man ; but he doubted the 
fact ! They had been all surrendered." 

"One of the company now asked, 'if he knew the author?' 
On the question being put, he immediately crossed his knife and 
fork on his plate, and, assuming a stern look, replied, ' I do !' 
His manner, tone, and attitude were all too formidable to admit 
of any further interrogatories." 

Mr. Tooke evidently appeared to be conscious that he had 
committed himself too far, and was determined to put a stop 
to any further conversation on the subject. 

I shall here make some remarks on the preceding extracts. 
We find that the editor, previously to commencing this work? 
had received materials which lay scattered through ivhat theau- 
tltor termed " six solid folios ;" and the question may be asked, 
from whence did they come ? Except we believe that they 
were handed to the publisher in the manner the Koran is said 
to have been delivered to Mahomet, we must suppose that they 
were given to him by the writer, duly prepared for the press ; 
with notes to be inserted agreeably to " the plan as devised by 
the author ;" that the author was well known to the publisher ; 
that these six folios were six volumes of the Public Advertiser : 
that every article they contained written by Junius, was so de- 
signated by him ; and that their publication was prohibited till 
after the death of the author. 

The editor says, " To have published these letters at an ear- 
lier period, would have been a gross breach of trust and deco- 
rum; the term of trust, however, seems at length to have 
expired ;" and adds, " Junius in the career of his activity, was 
the man of the people ; and when the/ormer ca?i receive no in- 
jury from the disclosure, the latter have certainly a claim to 
every information that can be communicated concerning him." 

These passages indicate the death of Junius in as plain terms 
as could be expected from a writer desirous of involving every 
thing respecting him in obscurity. The supposition that the 
publication might be justifiable on account of tnost of the parties 
having paid the debt of nature, can have no weight except Junius 
be included among them. Because the few sarcasms in (lie 



'24 EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODPALL's 

private letters bear no comparison to the bitter invectives in the 
public letters ; and those, besides, were of such trifling con- 
sideration that they might have been omitted. What object 
could a writer effect by abusing public men in private letters to 
his printer, not to be published ? 

The conclusion, therefore, that Junius ceased to exist at the 
time of printing this complete edition of his political works, 
(July 15, 1812,) is inevitable. 

The question then naturally occurs, what man of talents died 
at this period that could with propriety be suspected of writing 
these letters ? I answer, that the death of a gentleman about 
this time is recorded, whose abilities and principles eminently 
qualified him for this work. I allude to John Home Tooke, 
who died, according to the statement of his biographer, " on the 
night of Wednesday, March 18, 1812, in the seventy-seventh 
year of his age ; a man (says Mr. Stephens,) equally singular 
in his character, his opinions, and his fortunes." 

This happened within three days of four months previously 
to the appearance of this publication ; which was as soon as a 
work of such magnitude could be prepared and printed. 

" It was on the 28th of April, in the year 1767, that the late 
Mr. H. S. Woodfall, received, amidst other letters from a great 
number of correspondents, for the use of the Public Advertiser 
of which he was a proprietor, the first public address of this 
celebrated writer. He had not then assumed the name, or 
rather written under the signature of Junius ; nor did he always 
indeed assume a signature of any kind. When he did so, how- 
ever, his signatures were diversified, and the chief of them 
were Mnemon and Atticus, Lucius, Junius, and Brutus. 

There were also a variety of other names occasionally as- 
sumed by this fertile political writer, to answer particular pur- 
poses, or more completely to conceal himself, and carry forward 
his extensive design. That of Philo-Junius, he has avowed to 
the public, in the authorised edition of the Letters of Junius : 
but besides this they have yet to recognise him under the mask 
of Pophcola, Domitian, Vindex, and a variety of others, as the 
subjoined pages will sufficiently testify. 



PKELIMINARY ESSAY. 



o.fi 



From the extraordinary efiect produced by liis' lirst letter 
under the signature of Junius, he resolved to adhere to this 
signature exclusively, in all his subsequent letters, in which he 
took more than ordinary pains, and which alone he was desir- 
ous of being attributed to himself; while to other letters, com- 
posed with less care, and merely explanatory of passages in his 
more finished addresses, or introduced for some other collateral 
purpose, he subscribed some random name which occurred to 
him at the moment. The letters of Philo-Junius are alone an 
exception to this remark. These he always intended to acknow- 
ledge ; and in truth they are for the most part composed with 
so much of the peculiar style, and finished accuracy of the 
Letters of Junius, properly so called, that it would have requir- 
ed but little discernment to have regarded the two correspon- 
dents as the same person under different characters, — idem et 
alter* — if Junius himself had not at length admitted them to 
be his own productions. 

No man but he, who, with a thorough knowledge of our au- 
thor's style, undertakes to examine all the numbers of the Pub- 
lic Advertiser for the three years in question, can have any idea 
of the immense fatigue and trouble he submitted to by the 
composition of other letters, under other signatures, in order to 
support the pre-eminent pretensions and character of Junius, 
attacked as it was by a multiplicity of writers in favour of ad- 
ministration, to whom, as Junius, he did not choose to make any 
reply whatever. Surely Junius himself, when he first under- 
took the ofllice of public political censor, could by no means 
foresee the labor with which he was about to encumber him- 
self. And instead of wondering that he should have disappear- 
ed at the distance of about five years, we ought much rather to 
be surprised that he should have persevered through half of 
this period with a spirit at once so indefatigable and invincible. 
Junius had no time for remote excursions, nor often for relaxa- 
tion, even in the vicinity of the metropolis itself. 

Yet from his private letters we could almost collect a jour- 



The same and another. 

4 



•26 EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODFALLS 

nal of his absences, if not an itinerary of his little tours : for 
he does not appear to have left London at any time without 
some notice to the printer, either of his intention, or of the fact 
itself upon his return home ; independently of which the fre- 
quency and regularity of his correspondence seldom allowed of 
distant travel. " I have been out of town," says he, in his let- 
ter of Nov. 8, 1769, ^^for three weeks ; and though I got your 
last, could not conveniently answer it." — On another occasion, 
" I have been some days in the country, and could not conve- 
niently send for your letter until this night ;" and again, " I must 
see proof-sheets of the Dedication and Preface ; and these, if 
at all, I must see before the end of next week." In like man- 
nei*, " I want rest most severely, and am going to find it in the 
country ybr a few days." 

The editor, in his remarks above on the Itineraries of Junius, 
as deduced from his private letters, either meant to dupe his 
readers, or was egregiously duped himself. To suppose that 
Junius would detail all his movements to his printer, whom he 
wished to keep in utter ignorance of his person, and who un- 
doubtedly was so at this time, is to deny him the common pru- 
dence which guides men of ordinary capacity. In the very 
letter alluded to, of Nov. 8, 1769, Junius intimates the want of a 
proper topic for discussion, and says, " but as soon as a good 
subject offers," giving it to be understood that on such occur- 
rence he should be heard from. But the fact however, was, in 
my opinion, that Junius upon this occasion came from the 
country to the city to obtain information respecting the case of 
General Gansel. No letter appeared from Junius, under that sig- 
nature or any other, from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14; when he addressed 
the printer, under the signature of Philo-Junius, as follows : 

" The variety of remarks which have been made upon the 
last letter of Junius, and my own opinion of the writer, who, 
whatever may be his faults, is certainly not a weak man, have 
induced me to examine, with some attention, the subject of that 
letter. Without considering the ornamented style he has adopt- 
ed, I determined to look farther into the matter, before I decid- 
ed upon the merits of his letter. The first step I took was to 
inquire into the truth of the facts ; for, if these were either false 



PRELIMINARY ESSAY. *i^ 

or misrepresented, the most artful exertion of liis understand- 
ing, in reasoning upon them, would only be a disgrace to him. 
Now, sir, I have found every circumstance stated by Junius to 
be literally true, — General Gansel persuaded the bailiffs to con- 
duct him to the parade, and certainly solicited a corporal, and 
other soldiers, to assist him in making his escape. Captain 
Dodd did certainly apply to Captain Garth for the assistance of 
his guard. Captain Garth declined appearing himself, but stood 
aloof, while the other took upon himself to order out the king's 
guard, and by main force rescued the general. It is also strictlj' 
true, that the general was escorted by a file of musqueteers to 
a place of security. These are facts, Mr. Woodfall, which I 
promise you no gentleman in the guards will deny. If all or 
any of them are false, why are they not contradicted by the 
parties themselves ?" 

This inquiry took up the time which Junius pretended was 
passed in recreation in the country. 

The second excursion noticed above, is mentioned by Junius 
in a letter to Woodfall, dated Aug. 16, 1769. 

By turning to the notes accompanying the private letters of 
the above period, inserted in accordance with " the plan as de- 
vised by the author," we shall ascertain how Junius was em- 
ployed at this time, and which will account for his neglecting 
the correspondence under his usual signature. We there find 
that on the 5th of July, Junius was engaged in bringing forward 
a petition to the king from the Livery of London. 

Subsequently, in the same month, the dispute between Home 
and Onslow occurred ; in which, it will hereafter be shown, 
Junius took no inconsiderable part. In fact, " the same person 
under different characters — idem et altei" — is very conspicuous 
in this transaction. 

" The last political letter that ever issued under the signature 
of Junius was addressed to lord Camden. It appeared in the 
Public Advertiser for Jan. 21, 1772, and followed the publica- 
tion of his long and elaborate address to lord Mansfield upon 
the illegal bailing of Eyre ; and was designed to stimulate the 
earl to a renewal of the contest which he had commenced with 



28 EXTRACTS FROM G. AVOODFALl's 

the chief justice towards the close of the preceding session of 
parHament. It possesses the pecuUarity of being the only en- 
comiastic letter that ever fell from his pen under the signature of 
Junius. 

With his public address to the people, in letter 58, he seems 
in the first instance to have resolved upon closing his labors at 
least under the character of Junius, provided no beneficial 
eflfect MAcre likely to result from it, and as the printer had ex- 
pressed to him an earnest desire of pubHshing a genuine edition 
of his letters in a collective form, in consequence of a variety of 
incorrect and spurious editions at that time circulating through 
the nation, he seems to have thought that a consent to such a 
plan would afford him a good ostensible motive for putting a 
finish to his public career ; and on this account he not only ac- 
ceded to the proposal, but undertook to superintend it as far as 
his invisibility might allow him ; as also to add a few notes, as 
well as a dedication and preface. 

The plan for publication, however, was not matured 
till October, 1771 ; when it was determined that the work 
should comprise all the letters which had passed under the sig- 
natures of Junius and Philo-Junius to this period inclusively, 
and be occasionally enriched by a selection of other letters un- 
der a variety of other signatures, which independently of that 
of Philo-Junius, our author, as has been obsei-ved already, not 
imfrequently employed to explain what required explanation, or 
defend what demanded vindication, and which he himself 
thought sufficiently correct to associate with his more labored 
productions. In the prosecution of this intention however, he 
still made the two following alterations. Instead of closing the 
regular series of letters possessing the signature of Junius with 
that dated Oct. 5, 1771, upon the subject of "the unhappy dif- 
ferences," as he there calls them, " which had arisen among the 
friends of the people, and divided them from each other" — he 
added five others which the events of the day had impelled him 
to write during the reprinting of the letters, notwithstanding 
the intention he had expressed of offering nothing further under 
this signature. And instead of introducing the explanatory 
letters written under other signatures, he confined himself, in 



PKELlMiiNARY ESSAY. 29 

order that the work might be pubhshed before the ensuing ses- 
sion of parhament, to three justificatory papers alone : the first 
under the title of " A Friend of Junius," containing an answer 
to " A Barrister at Law ;" the second an anonymous declara- 
tion upon certain points on which his opinion had been mistaken 
or misrepresented ; and the third an extract from a letter to Mr. 
Wilkes, drawn up for the purpose of being laid before the Bill 
of Rights Society, and vindicating liimself from the charge of 
having written in favor of long parliaments and rotten bo- 
roughs. This last however, was furnished, not by Mr. Wilkes, 
but from his own notes. 

To judge of the moral and political character of Junius from 
his writings, as well private as public, he appears to have been 
a man of a bold and ardent spirit, tenaciously honorable in his 
personal connexions, but vehement and inveterate in his enmi- 
ties, and quick and irritable in conceiving them. In his state 
principles he was strictly constitutional, excepting, perhaps, 
upon the single point of denying the impeccability of the crown ; 
in those of religion, he at least ostensibly professed an attach- 
ment to the established church. 

Of his personal and private honor however, we can only 
judge from his connexion with Mr. Woodfall. Yet this con- 
nexion is perhaps sufficient ; throughout the whole of it he 
appears in a light truly ingenuous and liberal. 

That Junius was quick and irritable in conceiving disgust, and 
vehement and even at times mahgnant in his enmities, we may 
equally ascertain from his private and his public communica- 
tions. In the violence of his hatreds almost every one whom 
he attacks is guilty in the extreme ; there are no degrees of com- 
parison either in their criminality or his own detestation : the 
whole is equally superlative. 

Yet it is not difficult to account for the more violent of his 
political abhorrences ; and which seem, indeed, to have been 
almost exclusively directed against the duke of Grafton and 
lords Mansfield and Barrington, in conjunction with the earl of 
Bute : for his attacks upon the duke of Bedford and Su' Wil- 
liam Blackstone, are but light and casual when compared vnX\\ 
his incessant and unmitigated tii-ades against these noblemen. 



30 EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODFALL "s 

Firmly rooted in the best whig principles of the day, lie had 
an invincible hatred of lord Bute as the grand prop and founda- 
tion-stone of toryism in its worst and most arbitraiy tendencies : 
as introduced into Carlton-house against the consent of his 
present Majesty's royal grandfather, through the overweening 
favoritism of the princess dowager of Wales ; as having obtained 
an entire ascendency over this princess, and tlirough this prin- 
cess over the king, whose non-age had been entirely entrusted 
to him, and through the king over the cabinet and the parlia- 
ment itself. The introduction of lord Bute into the post of chief 
preceptor to his Majesty was in our author's opinion an inex- 
piable evil. " That," says he, " was the salient point from which 
all the mischiefs and disgraces of the present reign took life and 
motion." Thus despising the tutor, he could have no great 
reverence for the pupil : and hence the personal dislike he too 
frequently betrays, and occasionally in language altogether in- 
temperate and unjustifiable, for the Sovereign. Hence, too, 
his unconquerable prejudice against Scotchmen of every rank. 

The same cause excited his antipathy against lord Mansfield, 
even before his lordship's arbitrary line of conduct had proved 
that our author's suspicions concerning him were well-founded. 
Lord Mansfield, under the patronage of lord Stormont, had 
been educated with the highest veneration for the whole Stuart 
family, and especially for the Pretender ; whose health, when 
a young man, had been his favorite toast, and to whom his 
brother was private and confidential secretary. It was for these 
sentiments, and for the politics which intruded themselves in 
his judicial proceedings, where the crown was concerned, that 
our author expressed himself in such bitter terms against the 
chief justice. 

His detestation of the duke of Grafton proceeded from his 
grace's having abandoned his patron lord Chatham, and the 
whig principles into which he had been initiated under him, to 
gratify his own ambition on the first oflfer that occurred : from 
his having afterwards united sometimes with the Bedford party, 
sometimes with lord Bute, and sometimes with other connex- 
ions of whatever principles or professions, whenever the union 
appeared favorable to his personal views ; and from his having 



PRELIJIINARY ESSAV. 31 

hereby prevented that general coahtion of the ditierent divisions 
of whig statesmen, which must in all probability have proved 
permanently triumphant over the power of the king liimself. 
"■ My abhorrence of the duke," says Jmiius, " arises from an 
intimate knowledge of liis character, and from a thorough con- 
viction that his baseness has been the cause of greater mischief 
to England than even the unfortunate ambition of lord Bute." 

Lord Barrington he might justly despise and even hate for 
his political versatilities and want of all principle ; for atroci- 
ties indeed, which no man can yet have forgotten, and which 
never can be buried in forgetfulness but with the total oblivion 
of his name. 

These were the prime objects of our author's abhorrence ; 
and in proportion as other politicians were connected with them 
by principles or want of principles, confederacy, nation or even 
family, he abhorred them also.* 



* The character here drawn of Junius accords so exactly with that of John 
Home Tooke, as represented by Mr. Stephens, his biographer, that I am induced 
to insert the latter in this place, as showing a singular coincidence. It is as 
follows : 

" It must be acknowledged, that he carried his personal enmities too far. I 
am well aware, however, it may be suggested by his admirers, that his animosities 
were chiefly of a political nature, and that his wiongs and sufferings had been 
great, uniform, and durable. There was at times, however, a certain degree of 
bitterness in his animosities, that it would have been far more philosophical, 
either to have mitigated or avoided. 

He himself appears to have been sensible of this; for he allows "that he 
speaks too sharply for philosophy ;" but it is added, that he disdained " to handle 
any useful truth daintily, as if he feared it should sting him." 

On the other hand, the warmlh of his temperament, perhaps, rendered him 
pecuharly susceptible of gratitude ; for a sense of benefits is exhibited in general 
in the same proportion as a sense of wrongs. The fervor and uniformity of his 
friendships were also conspicuous ; and thus, like most men of strong passions, 
he both loved and hated in extremes. 

In political affairs, Mr. Tooke was prone to suspicion ; and always seemed to 
think himself justified, on such occasions, to attribute the springs of human ac- 
tion to the worst motives. 

When he found his jealousy reahsed, he would then freely indulge in his attacks, 
both personal and pohtical ; and on such occasions, no one was ever better cal- 
culated " to give the bastinado with his tongue.^" Wit, ridicule, sarcasm, were 

' King John, act 2, scene 2. 



32 EXTIIACT S FROM G. AVOODFALJ. S 

His view of the principles and powers of tlie constitution, 
appears to be equally correct and perspicuous. Upon the ques- 
tion of general warrants ; of the rights of juries to return general 
verdicts, or in other words, to determine upon the law as well 
as upon the fact ; of the unlimited power of lords chief justices 
to admit to bail ; of the illegality of suspending acts of parlia- 
ment by proclamation, we owe him much ; he was a warm and 
rigid supporter of the co-extent, as well as co-existence of the 
three estates of the government, and it was from this principle 
alone he argued against the system of indefinite privilege as 
appertaining to either house individually ; and as allowing it a 
power of arbitrary punishment, for what may occasionally be 
regarded as a contempt of such house, or a breach of such pri- 
vilege. 

The severity with which our author uniformly satirized every 
violation of public decorum, at least entitles liim to public grati- 



«ach employed in its turn, and he would then address himself to the company, 
and affect to condemn his own suspicions in the language of his favom-ite bard : 

" I do beseech you, 



Though I — perchance, am vicious in my guess, 
(As I confess, it is my nature's plague, 
To spy into abuses ; and oft, my jealousy 
Shapes faults that are not) that your wisdom yet, 
From one that so imperfectly conceits, 
Would take no notice.^" 

Gay, lively, and full of pleasantry in general conversation; on politics alone, 
he was bitter, vituperative, and inflexible. On those occasions, however, he 
f-eemed to be actuated solely by conviction ; and it is no small praise that, with- 
out regarding popularity, he was constantly on the side of liberty. 

That he who quarrelled with Mr. Wilkes for his bad faith ; who attacked lord 
Mansfield for his illegal decisions ; who opposed Mr. Fox on account of liis coali- 
tion ; and boldly, but fruitlessly urged the charge of apostacy against Mr. Pitt, 
should have created a multitude of enemies, cannot excite much surprise. This, 
periiaps, will assist in solving the paradox, by enabling us to discover why he who 
was uniform in his pohtics, should be detested for double dealing ; why one, 
constantly actuated by principle, should be termed a hypociite ; and why a man 
attached to the constitution in all its forms, should be branded with the name of 
a republican.'' — Jim. Edit. 

^ Othello, act 3, scene 3. 



PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 



33 



tucte, and does credit to the purity of his heart : and if his 
morahty may be judged of by various occasional observations 
and advices scattered throughout his private intercourse with 
Mr. Woodfall, it is impossible to do otherwise than approve 
both his principles and his conduct. 

Whether the writer of these letters had any other and less 
worthy object in view than that he uniformly avowed, namely, a 
desire to subserve the best political interests of his country, it is 
impossible to ascertain with precision. It is unquestionably no 
common occurrence in history, to behold a man thus steadily, 
and almost incessantly, for five years, volunteering his services 
in the cause of the people, amidst abuse and slander from every 
party, exposed to universal resentment, unknown, and not 
daring to be known, without having any personal object to 
acquire, any sinister motive of individual aggrandisement or 
reward. Yet nothing either in his public or private letters 
affords us the remotest hint that he was thus actuated. Through- 
out the whole, from first to last, in the midst of all his warmth, 
and rancour, his argument and declamation, his appeal to the 
public, and his notes to his confidential friend, he seems to have 
been influenced by the stimulus of sound and genuine patriotism 
alone. With this he commenced his career, and with this he 
retired from the field of action, retaining, at least a twelvemonth 
afterwards, the latest period in which we are able to catch a 
glimpse of him, the same political sentiments he had professed 
on his first appearance before the world, and still ready to renew 
his efforts the very moment he could perceive they had a chance 
of being attended with benefit. Under these circumstances, 
therefore, however difficult it may be to acquit him altogether 
of personal considerations, it is still more difficult, and must be 
altogether unjust, ungenerous, and illogical to suspect his 
integrity. 

It has often been said, from the general knowledge he has 
evinced of English jurisprudence, that he must have studied the 
law professionally : and in one of his private letters already 
quoted, he gives his personal opinion upon the mode in which 
the information of the king against Woodfall was drawn up, in 
a manner that may serve to countenance such an opiniont 

5 



34 



EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODFALL S 



To pursue tliis critique further would be to disparage the 
judgment of the reader. Upon the wliole these letters, whetheF 
considered as classical and correct compositions, or as addresses 
of popular and impressive eloquence, are well entitled to the 
distinction they have acquired ; and quoted as they have been, 
with admiration, in the senate by such nice judges and accom- 
plished scholars as Mr. Burke and lord Eldon, eulogized by Dr. 
Johnson, and admitted by the author of the Pursuits of Litera- 
ture, to the same rank among English classics as Livy or Tacitus 
among Roman, there can be no doubt that they will live com- 
mensurately with the language in which they are composed. 

These few desultory and imperfect hints are the whole that 
the writer of this essay has been able to collect concerning the 
author of the Letters of Junius. Yet desultory and imperfect 
as they are, he still hopes that they may not be utterly destitute 
both of interest and utility. Although they do not undertake 
positively to ascertain who the author was, they offer a fair test 
to point out negatively who he was not ; and to enable us to 
reject the pretensions of a host of persons, whose friends have 
claimed for them so distinguished an honor. 

From the observations contained in this essay it would seem 
to follow unquestionably that the author of the letters of Junius 
was an Englishman of high cultivated education, deeply versed 
in the language, the laws, the constitution and history of his 
native country : that he was a man of easy if not of affluent cir- 
cumstances, of unsulliedhonorand generosity, who had it equally 
in his heart and in his power to contribute to the necessities of 
other persons, and especially of those who were exposed to 
troubles of any kind on his own account : that he was in habits 
of confidential intercourse, if not with different members of the 
cabinet, with politicians who were most intimately familiar with 
the court, and entrusted with all its secrets ; that he had attained 
an age which would allow him,without vanity, to boast of an ample 
knowledge and experience of the world : that during the years 
1767, 68, 69, 70, 71, and part of 1772, he resided almost con- 
stantly in London or its vicinity, devoting a very large portion 
of his time to political concerns, and publishing his political lucu- 
brations, under different signatures, in the Public Advertiser : that 



PItELlMINAllY ESSAY. 



3:» 



111 his natural temper, he was quick, irritable and impetuous : 
subject to political prejudices and strong personal animosities ; 
but possessed of a high independent spirit ; honestly attached 
to the principles of the constitution, and fearless and inde- 
fatigable in maintaining them ; that he was strict in his moral 
conduct, and in his attention to public decorum ; an avowed 
member of the established church, and, though acquainted with 
English judicature, not a lawyer by profession. 

What other characteristics he may have possessed we know 
not ; but these are sufficient ; and the claimant who cannot pro- 
duce them conjointly is in vain brought forward as the author 
of the letters of Junius." 

The foregoing appears to be a pretty fair description of 
Junius. There can, however, be no authority for saying that 
" he had it in his power to contribute to the necessities of 
others." Junius, to be sure, repeatedly gave out the idea of 
his being a man of wealth and rank, with a view, no doubt, of 
deceiving those who were anxious to ascertain his person ; and 
the editor, in different parts of his PreHminary Essay, seems 
inclined to give currency to the assumption, as one means per- 
haps, of screening the true Junius from suspicion. For instance,in 
page 54, he sa}'s, " that he (Junius) was of some rank and con- 
sequence, must necessarily follow from the facility with which 
he acquired political information, and a knowledge of ministe- 
rial intrigues. In one place he expressly affirms that his 'rank 
and fortune place him above a common bribe ;' in another, ' I 
should have hoped that even my name might carry some au- 
thority with it." Junius also writes to Woodfall, " in point of 
money, be assured you shall never suffer." But when Mr, 
Woodfall was prosecuted for printing the letter addressed to 
the king, what was the language of Junius ? — " If your affair 
should come to a trial, and you should be found guilty, you will 
then let me know what expense falls particularly on yourself: 
for I understand you are engaged with other proprietors. 
Some way or other you shall be reimbursed. Bat seriously and 
bona fide, I think it is impossible." 

This does not appear to be the language of a man who had 
much money tit command. Althouah Junius might be a man 



3tj EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODPAl.LS 

of the strictest honour, and although his talents as a ^rty wri- 
ter must have entitled him to considerable influence among 
monied men, yet his peculiar situation, as Junius, threw impe- 
diments in the way of exerting that influence. 

The boastful language of Junius, by the way, accords exactly 
with that of Mr. Home upon a similar occasion ; that is, an 
occasion requiring deception in respect to the condition of the 
author to prevent detection. The work alluded to was entitled 
"ThePetition of an Englishman." An anonymous pamphlet, pub- 
lished in 1765, and afterwards known to have been written by 
John Home, as we are informed by his biographer. In this work 
the author says, " Even I, my countrymen, who now address 
myself to you — I, who am at present blessed with peace, with 
happiness, and independence, a fair character, and an easy for- 
tune, am at this moment forfeiting them all. — Soon must I be 
beggared, vilified, imprisoned. The hounds of power will be 
unkennelled and laid upon the scent," &c. 

It appears, by Stephens's Life of Home, that his income 
amounted, at this time, to only " between two and three hun- 
dred pounds per annum." 

Making it requisite for Junius to have resided during the year 
1767, in London or its vicinity, is such a departure from fact, 
that I am surprised the editor should have relied so far upon the 
credulity of his readers, as to hazard the assertion. The work 
itself, which contains this unqualified declaration, gives the date 
of the first letter in the collection April 28th of that year ; allow- 
ing four months wanting two days, for the absence of Junius 
during the specified time. The error appears to be too gross 
to have been committed without design. There is good reason 
to beheve that the purpose intended by it was to exclude, from 
the number of candidates for the authorship of Junius's letters, 
a gentleman whom, 1 suspect, as before intimated, both the 
editor and proprietor of tliis publication knew to be the author, 
and who, it was well known, was in Italy during the fore part of 
that vear, and till near the date of the first letter. 



PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 37 



CHAPTER III. 



Examination of the Claims of persons who have been named as 
the AutJwr of these Lettei^s. 

" The persons to whom this honor has at different times, 
and on different grounds been attributed, are the following : 
Charles Lloyd, a clerk of the Treasury, and afterwards a de- 
puty teller of the Exchequer ; John Roberts, also a clerk in the 
Treasury at the commencement of his political life, but after- 
wards private secretary to Mr. Pelham ; Samuel Dyer ; Wil- 
liam Gerard Hamilton ; Edmund Burke ; Dr. Butler, late bishop 
of Hereford ; the Rev. Philip Rosenhagen ; major-general 
Charles Lee ; John Wilkes ; Hugh Macauley Boyd ; John 
Dunning, lord Ashburton; Henry Flood; and lord George 
Sackville." 

In a work entitled " Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth 
century, by John Nicols — London, 1815," the author, speaking 
of the writings of Mr. Philip Thicknesse, vol. ix. p. 274, says : 
" In 1789, he also pubhshed Junius Discovered in the person of 
John Home Tooke." 

It may not be amiss here to notify the reader that " in 1782, 
Mr. John Home assumed the additional name of Tooke." 

Was there no motive for excluding this name from the above 
list ? was not the c litor aware that any attempt to refute the 
claims of Mr. Tooke would be attended with great embarrass- 
ment on his part ? To write voluminously to invalidate the 
pretensions of those whom mere rumor had brought forward as 
candidates in this case, and to be silent in respect to one in 
whose favor a volume had been written, must be regarded with 
the strongest suspicion that all was not fair in this discussion ; 
that something was concealed behind the curtain ; in short, that 
the editor knew more of this affair than he was permitted to 
disclose. 

What renders this omission of the name of Home Tooke 
doubly suspicious is, that a. fac simile of his hand-writing is in- 



38 EXTllACTS FROM O, WOODFALL's 

eluded among those adduced by Mr. Woodfall, of ••gentlemen 
whose names have been mentioned as the author of the letters." 
That list contains fac similes of the hand-writing of Edmund 
Burke, Charles Lee, J. Dunning, Home Tooke, W. G. Hamil- 
ton, John Wilkes, and Hugh M. Boyd. The pretensions of the 
whole of whom, excepting Mr. Tooke, are taken notice of in 
the Preliminary Essay. Why, it may be emphatically asked, 
was he passed by in silence ? The reason, to my mind, is ob- 
vious. It was in accordance with the terms of the contract of 
Mr. Woodfall when he received from Junius the complete col- 
lection of his political works, prepared for the press. 

Alexander Stephens, Esq., the biographer of Mr. Tooke. 
notices several distinguished writers cotemporary with him in the 
following manner : 

" Perhaps this is the proper place for a short account of some 
of the men of letters of that day, who engaged in political 
controversy, and employed their pens either for or against the 
administration." Among those whom he mentions as being 
on the side of the opposition, was " Philip Thicknesse, so famous 
(he says) afterwards for his travels and his eccentricities. He 
had been an officer in his youth, and afterwards obtained the 
appointment of lieutenant-governor of Landguard Fort. He 
wrote on the same side, under the patronage of that great and 
good man, the first lord Camden, and, with several others, be- 
came proprietors of the Middlesex Journal, for the express pur- 
pose of using it as a vehicle of attack against the administration 
of that day." 

Is it not astonishing that Mr. Stephens, in thus noticing this 
writer, should say nothing ji^o or con of the work intended to 
prove the subject of his memoirs to be the author of Junius's 
letters? But Mr. Stephens has not been entirely silent in 
regard to this subject. He has said, in different parts of his 
work, more than he intended should be understood ; and by 
falsifying facts, even according to his own statements, for the 
purpose of screening his friend from suspicion, has fully estab- 
lished the point in my mind, that, in the memoirs of Mr. Tooke, 
he knew he was giving the life of Junius. 

I have not yet been able to obtain the work alluded to, writ- 
ten bv Mr. Thicknesse. 



PRELIMIiNARY ESSiAY. 



39 



Sometime alter the publication of the edition ofJmiius before 
us, which announces, in the clearest manner, the death of 
the author ; when all was silent as the grave respecting the de- 
ceased as the real Junius ; when the danger to be apprehended 
from a disclosure had passed away, a living candidate is intro- 
duced, who had been preparing himself for at least twenty 
years, by copjnng in his writings, passages from the letters of 
Junius, in order to be suspected to possess sufficient talents, and 
actually to have written those letters. Doctor Graham, in his 
Memoirs of John Home Tooke, has rebutted his pretensions in 
an able manner, and, in the opinion of many, conclusively ; I 
will, however, hereafter make some additional remarks on this 
claimant. 

I shall now extract a few of the remarks of the editor respect- 
ing some of the persons mentioned above, particularly those 
whom Henry S. Woodfall declared positively had no claims 
to the authorship of these letters ; as that goes far, in my 
opinion, to establish the fact of his knowledge of the author ; 
and then the evasions and contradictions to be found in this 
edition may be reasonably accounted for. — Most of the above 
claimants are now entirely out of the question, and all argu- 
ments to refute their pretensions are sheer loss of time. 

" Of the three fii'st of these reputed authors of the letters of 
Junius, it will be sufficient to observe, without entering into any 
other fact whatever, that Lloyd was on his death-bed at the date 
of the last of Junius's private letters ; an essay which has suffi- 
cient proof of having been written in the possession of full 
health and spirits ; and which, together with the rest of our au- 
thor's private letters to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, is 
in the possession of the proprietor of this edition, and bears 
date January 19, 1773. While as to Roberts and Dyer, they 
had both been dead for many months anterior to this period : 
Lloyd died, after a lingering illness, January 22, 1773 ; Roberts 
July 13, and Dyer on September 15, both in the preceding 
year." 

Mr. Almon, in his edition of Junius, gives the following testi- 
mony respecting Lloyd, which appears to be conclusive against 
him: — 



iO , EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODFALL'S 

"CHARLES LLOYD, 

secretary to Mr. Grenville, has been suspected, but his talents 
were inadequate to the composition of Junius. He wrote, in- 
deed, some short letters and paragraphs in the newspapers, 
against the Rockingham administration ; and some political 
pamphlets in the year 1765 and 1766, published by me. These 
last possessed a very small degree of literary merit, and conse- 
quently their circulation was very limited ; but a few persons, 
knowing that he sometimes amused himself in that manner, 
upon no other foundation, raised this hypothesis. When Junius's 
letters first appeared, he was in a veiy bad state of health, and 
obliged to reside abroad ; and he died a few months after their 
completion." 

" The pretensions of the 

REV. PHILIP ROSENHAGEN, 
though adverted to in a preceding edition of these letters, are 
hardly worth noticing. It is sufficient to observe, that Mr. 
Rosenhagen, who was a school-fellow of Mr. H. S. Woodfall, 
continued on terms of acquaintance with him in subsequent life, 
and occasionally wrote for the Pubhc Advertiser : but was re- 
peatedly declared by Mr. Woodfall, who must have been a com- 
petent evidence as to the fact, not to be the author of Junius's 
letters. 

Of all the pretenders however to the honor of having written 
the letters of Junius, 

HUGH MACAULEY BOYD, 
has been brought forward with the most confidence : yet of all 
of them, there is not one whose claims are so easily and com- 
pletely refuted. It is nevertheless necessary, from the assu- 
rance with which they have been urged, to examine them with 
some degree of detail. 

Hugh Macauley Boyd was an Irishman of a respectable fa- 
mily, who was educated for the bar, which he deserted, at an 
early age, for pohtics, and an unsettled life, that perpetually 
involved him in pecuniary distresses. In his public conversa- 
tion he was an enthusiastic admirer of the style and principles 
of Junius ; and in his political effusions he perpetually strove 
to imitate his manner ; and, in many instances, copied his sen- 



PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 41 

tences verbally. On this last account the three advocates for 
his fame, Almon who has introduced him into his Biographical 
Anecdotes, Campbell, who has published a Life of him and 
prefixed it to a new edition of ' Boyd's Works,' and George Chal- 
mers, who has entered largely into the subject in his ' Appendix 
to the Supplemental Apology,' have strenuously contended that 
Boyd and Junius were the same person. 

It is admitted that Boyd occasionally wrote passages of con- 
siderable merit ; and it is admitted also, that he was an imitator 
of Junius's style, and a frequent copyist of his very words and 
images. But this last fact is against Boyd, instead of being in 
his favour ; for the style of Junius is original and strictly his 
own, he is nowhere a copyist, and much less a copyist of him- 
self Boyd might characteristically write, as he has done in his 
Freeholder, " long enough have our eyes ached over this barren 
prospect, where no verdvre of virtue quicke?is" because Junius 
before him had written, " I turn with pleasure from that barren 
waste in which no salutary plant takes root, wo verdure quickens;'* 
but Junius could not write so, because his genius was far too fer- 
tile for him to be driven to the dire necessity of copying from his 
own metaphors, and even had he done it in the present instance 
he was too manly a writer to have introduced into the simile 
the affected and contemptible alliteration of " verdure of virtue.' 

If Boyd, therefore, wrote Junius, he must have been possess- 
ed of powers of which he has never otherwise given any evidence 
whatever, and must not only have disguised his hand, but as was 
well observed by the late Mr. W. Woodfall, have disguised his 
style at the same time ; and this too " in that most extraordinary 
way of writing above his own reach of hterary talent," judging 
of his abilities from every existing and acknowledged document. 
To conceive that a man of versatile genius might disguise his 
accustomed style of writing by adopting some other style an 
a level with his own, is not difficult ; but to conceive, under the 
circumstances of his authenticated talents, that Boyd could dis- 
guise his avowed style by assuming that of Junius, is to con- 
ceive, though the difference between them was not altogether 
so extreme, that a sign-post painter might disguise himself under 

6 



42 EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODFALl's 

the style of Sir Joshua Reynolds, or a street-fiddler under that 
of Cramer. 

There is, however, a note inserted in Junius's own edition of 
these letters, in relation to lord Irnham, and his baseness to a 
young and confidential friend, that has been conceived by these 
same gentlemen as almost decisive in favor of Boyd's preten- 
sions ; the young man here alluded to, having been one of Mrs. 
Boyd's guardians ; the two families to which the fact relates, 
from the peculiar motives they possessed for keeping it a secret, 
not being supposed to have divulged it to any one, and Mrs, 
Boyd herself having only communicated it in strict confidence 
to her husband. 

In point of fact, the anecdote here referred to, was publicly 
known and propagated not less than three years earlier than the 
first edition of the letters of Junius, in which it is introduced as 
a note. For it appears in a letter in the Public Advertiser of 
April 7, 1769, with the signature of Recens, written by this 
same Junius ; from which the note in question is but a mere 
transcript, and given without altering a word. And yet Mr. 
Almon, in the preface to his own edition of Junius's letters, in 
which he has taken care to bestow abundant abuse on the 
Printer of the Public Advertiser and his brother, because they 
did not choose to unfold to him all they were acquainted with on 
this subject, has not scrupled to assert with his usual confidence, 
that "this note certainly was not written till after Junius 
having finally ceased to write under that signature, collected 
his letters and published them together, with many additions ; 
which was in the course of 1772," This, however, is only one 
specimen of Mr. Almon's general accuracy in the prosecution 
of his favorite topic : yet it is useless to add more : the death of 
/the writer has put him beyond all power of reply ; nor should 
even this have been noticed, but to show how absurd were the 
pretensions of a man, so vain, so precipitate, and so incautious, 
to the character of an oracle upon this or any other subject ; 
and how insolent it was in him to charge others with igno- 
rance, incapacity and falsehood, who were possessed of better 
sources of information, and evinced a more punctilious adherence 
to truth. 



PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 43 

From these tliree slender lacts, — ^Boyd's imitation of the style 
of Junius, Almon's suspicion concerning his hand -writing, and the 
anecdote of lord Irnham, in conjunction with a few others of a 
nature merely collateral, and which, when separated from them, 
prove nothing whatever, these gentlemen undertake to " regard 
it as a moral certainty that Macauley Boyd did write the letters 
of Junius." 

The late Mr. Woodfall, indeed, made no scruple of denying 
the 3iSsertion peremptorily, admitting at the same time, that he 
was not absolutely certain who did write them. But this testi- 
mony it seems, though from the printer of the letters them- 
selves, and who, moreover, through the whole period of their 
publication, was in habits of confidential correspondence with 
the author, is of no consequence. Let us see by what curious 
process of logic this testimony is attempted to be invalidated ; the 
reader will meet with it in Mr. Chalmers's pamphlet, who thus 
observes and reasons : 

" A few weeks after the publication of Almon's Anecdotes, 
in 1797, H. S. Woodfall, meeting the anecdote writer at Long- 
man's shop, complimented him on his entertaining book ; ' but 
said that he was mistaken, in supposing Boyd to have been the 
author of Junius's letters ; and then added, with an einpJiasis, 
that Mr. Boyd was not the author of them.' To these em- 
phatical observations, Mr. Almon replied, ' that he had no doubt 
of Boyd's being the author of those letters ; that as you, Mr. 
Woodfall, never knew who was the author, you cannot under- 
take to say who was not the author of those letters.' Mr. 
Woodfall departed without making any reply. What reply 
could he make ? It is absurd in any man, who does not know 
the true author of Junius's letters to say, that Macauley Boyd 
was not the writer of them, in opposition to affirmative proof?. 
Yet, Mr. Woodfall afterwards told Mr. Campbell, that ' Mr. 
Boyd was not the writer of Junius's letters,' without pretending, 
however, that he knew the true author." 

"Now every one who knew Mr. H. S. Woodfall, knew him 
also to be a man of strict unimpeachable veracity ; a man who 
would not have ventured to have spoken decisively upon this or 
any other point, if he had not had very sufficient grounds. We 



44 EXTRACTS i'JtOM G. WOODFALL's 

are asked what reply he could have made ? and are told that 
his negative assertion was absurd against the affirmative proofs 
offered. These affirmative proof s have been already sufficiently 
noticed ; our next business then is to state what reply Mr. 
Woodfall could have made if he had chosen, and perhaps would 
have made if he had been differently addressed." 

Mr. Woodfall had, no doubt, sufficient reasons for speaking 
decisively upon this point ; but, being conscious of having spok- 
en too unguardedly, departed " without making any reply" to 
Mr. Almon. The editor here states at large what answer Mr. 
Woodfall could have made ; among the rest, that " he knew 
Boyd to be an imitator and copyist of Junius ; Junius to be no 
imitator or copyist of any man, and least of all of himself ^^ &c, 
Giving indeed, arguments sufficiently cogent against Boyd ; but 
still the embarrassment of Mr. Woodfall upon the occasion 
shows that his convictions rested upon other and stronger 
grounds than here taken, and which he could not declare. 

Mr. Almon thus concludes his remarks in favor of Boyd, in 
his Preface to Junius : 

" I cannot close this subject without saying a word respect- 
ing the Woodfalls, who have assumed a world of unreal conse- 
quence in the question. The fact is, that neither of them knew 
more about the person of Junius, than any body else did. The 
original manuscript may have been preserved ; but their mys- 
terious declaration that ' it will one day he hioun that Mr. Boyd 
was not Junius,' is entirely empty and unmeaning. I believe 
they felt sufficiently exposed in the controversy on this subject 
which they carried on with me through the newspapers, in the 
month of August, 1799. I am confident that when the decease 
of the survivor of them,* or any other accident shall put their 
papers and their secrets into the power of others, if a ray of 
additional light is by such means thrown upon the question, it 
will but more fully, and perhaps conclusively, establish the 
opinion which I have now for six-and-thirty years entertained." 



* "Henry Sampson, who_^(since Mr. Almon wrote this Preface) is also dead : 
and it is remarkable that he and Mr. Almon died on the same dav." 



PRELIMINARY KSSA% . 45 

Mr. Almon was, in my opinion, very much mistaken in this 
matter. Whenever any accident shall permit the present Mr. 
Woodfall to expose the secrets intrusted to his father as well as 
to himself, it will then be shown that the Woodfalls knew much 
more of this affair than Almon imagined. The declaration 
made by the Woodfalls, as reported by Almon, conveys the idea 
fully that they not only knew that Boyd was not Junius, but who 
was. It is the language of one having positive knowledge of a 
fact which he is not at liberty to divulge. I am the more anxious 
to establish this point, as it goes directly to prove who was the 
author of Junius's letters, as will more fully appear hereafter. 

JOHN DUNNING, LORD ASIIBURTON. 

The following facts are extracted from the remarks of the 
editor, respecting Mr. Dunning : " He was solicitor-general at 
the time these letters fii'st appeared, and for more than a twelve- 
month afterwards. He was a man of liigh, unblemished honor, 
as well as high independent principles ; it cannot therefore be 
supposed that he would have vilified the king, while one of his 
confidential servants and counsellors." 

LORD GEORGE SACKVILLE. 

The editor having overthrown all that opposed his progress 
till he met with lord George Sackville, and, not unwilling to pro- 
tract the war, after giving him a single thrust, he permits him to 
escape to renew the contest at a future 'f)eriod. In fact, lord Sack- 
ville has been used by him as a stool-pigeon to betray the unwary, 
and many have thereby been cheated into a behef that he was 
the " real Junius." The conduct of the editor in tliis case tends 
to show (what I have before asserted) that he knew the author 
of Junius, and was consequently induced to practise the most 
deceptive arts to conceal that knowledge, and draw off the 
attention of the pubUc from the person whom he was bound to 
protect from suspicion. 

I shall now undertake to dissect and expose the following 
Jesuitical remarks ; which are the more inexcusable as the 
editor had previously declared, "that not one of these pie- 
tenders (including lord Sackville) ever had the smallest preten- 
sions to the distinction which some of them had ardently 
coveted." 



46 EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODFALLS 

"Let US proceed to the pretensions that have been offered on 
the part of lord George Sackville as the real Junius. The 
evidence is somewhat indecisive even to the present hour. Sir 
William Draper divided his suspicions between this nobleman 
and Mr, Burke, and upon the personal and unequivocal denial 
of the latter, he transferred them entirely to the former : and 
that Sir William was not the only person who suspected 
his lordship even from the first, is evident from the private 
letter of Junius, which asserts that Swinney had actually called 
upon lord Sackville and taxed him with being Junius to his face." 

This was not the fact. The clause in the letter alluded to is 
as follows : " That Swinney is a wretched but dangerous fool. 
He had the impudence to go to lord G. Sackville, whom he had 
never spoken to, and to ask him whether or no he w as the author 
of Junius — take care of him." 

In regard to lord Sackville and Mr. Draper, I will quote the 
remarks of Mr. Almon, who was a writer and publisher at the 
time in which Junius appeared, and therefore his testimony is en- 
titled to great credit. In his edition of Junius, published in 1806, 
six years before that of G. Woodfall's, under consideration, 
after discussing the pretensions of sundry persons who had been 
suspected of writing the letters of Junius, he says, " The next 
person fixed upon was lord viscount Sackville." 

It is difficult to say hoW such an opinion could have arisen. 
or have been entertained for a moment. Lord Sackville was 
graciously received by his present majesty, from the day of his 
accession ; and even appeared at the levee before the royal 
funeral had taken place, and while the late king lay dead in his 
chamber. 

He was some years afterwards appointed secretarj'^ of state, 
and created an English peer. Such a person, so favoured, and 
so honored, was not likely to attack his royal master. Yet Sir 
William Di'aper, for some weeks, gave faith to this idle report. 
though he afterwards confessed himself asJiamed of ever having 
been duped by it." 

The editor proceeds, " This letter is, in fact, one of the most 
curious of the whole collection : if written hy lord George 
Sackville. it settles the point at once : and if not wu'itten by him. 



PKELIMINARY ESSAY. 47 

presupposes an acquaintance with his lordship's family, his sen- 
timents, and connexions, so intimate as to excite no small degree 
of astonishment /" What could be more natural than for Sack- 
ville himself to mention this circumstance, by which means it 
would probably soon come to the ears of Junius ? or, for Swin- 
ney, who seems to have been a busy-hod y, to have boasted of 
having put this question home to his lordship ? But, the editor, 
says, if this letter was " written by lord George Sackville, it 
settles the point at once." Certainly ! the letter was known to 
be written by Junius from its contents, and moreover contained 
his private signature, C. And therefore, if Sackville wrote it, 
he must undoubtedly be Junius ! The cause which he had 
undertaken to promote, can alone excuse the learned Dr. Good 
for making use of this truism. 

"Junius was informed of Swinney's having called upon lord 
George Sackville, s-few hours after his call, and he knew that 
before this time he had never spoken to him in his life." 

This is the reverse of FalstafF's men in buckram ; here is a 
diminution. If Dr. Good had turned back to page 23 of the 
same volume in which the above appears, he would have found 
that he there stated the occurrence as follows ; " This anecdote 
is not a little curious : the fact was true, and occurred but a day 
or two before the letter was written ; but how Junius, unless he 
had been lord Sackville himself, should have been so soon 
acquainted with it, baffles all conjecture ! !" 

A day or two is an indefinite mode of expression, and is com- 
monly used to denote several days, more or less. Thus by 
extending the few hours here mentioned between Swinney's 
call and the letter of Junius to the actual time, they would pro- 
bably amount to six or seven days, and this pretended astonish- 
ment vanishes at once. 

How did the editor ascertain that Swinney, before this time, 
had never spoken to lord Sackville in his life ? Junius said so ; 
but that is no proof. Mr. Charles Butler informed Mr. Barker, 
(see Barker's " Claims," Preface, p. 63, and Text, p. 294,) " that 
the Mr. Swinney, who is mentioned in Junius's letters, was a 
clergyman, who had been attached as chaplain to one of the regi- 
ments serving in Germany, at the time lord George Sackville was 



48 EXTRACTS rROM G. WOODFALL's 

commander-in-chief; and that upon his return to England, he 
was frequently in the treasury and its environs ; a^d that he 
was a carrier of intelligence to and from different persons." 
This, at any rate, presupposes an acquaintance with Sackville 
before the occurrence mentioned above. 

" It is certain then, that lord George Sackville was early and 
generally suspected, that Junius knew him to be suspected with- 
out denying, as in the case of the author of the 'Whig, &c.'that 
he was suspected wrongfully ; and that this nobleman, if not 
Junius himself, must have been in habits of close and intimate 
friendship with him. The talents of lord George Sackville 
were well known and admitted, and his political principles led 
him to the same side of the question that was so warmly espous- 
ed by Junius. It is said, however, that on one occasion his 
lordship privately observed to a friend of his, ' I should be proud 
to be capable of writing as Junius has done ; but there are 
many passages in his letters I should be very sorry to have 
written.' Such a declaration, however, is too general to be in 
any way conclusive : even Junius himself might, in a subsequent 
period, have regretted that he had written some of the passages 
that occur in his letters. In the case of his letter to Junia, we 
know he did from his own avowal. It is nevertheless pecuharly 
hostile to the opinion in favor of lord George Sackville, that 
Jimius should roundly have accused him of want of courage, as 
he has done in Vol. II. p. 180. The facts, however, are fairly 
before the reader, and he shall be left to the exercise of his own 
judgment." 

The artifice and dissimulation exhibited in the foregoing 
observations on lord Sackville are too apparent to escape the 
notice of the most inattentive reader, and can only be accounted 
for on the supposition of secret views before alluded to. 

That Sackville " was early and generally suspected," is an 
assertion unsupported by the least testimony ; and if any faith 
can be placed in Mr. Almon's statement, was not true. As a 
further proof of its improbability, the testimony of Sackville's 
private secretary, as cited by Mr, Coventry, may be produced. 



PRELIMINARV ESSAY. 



49 



See Junius Unmasked, p. 63, where it is stated that '• Charles 
Cumberland, his secretary, says, ' I never heard that my friend? 
lord George Germain* was amongst the suspected authors till 
by way of jest he told me so not many days before his death : 1 
did not want him to disavow it, for there could be no occasion 
to disprove an absolute impossibihty." 

If this suspicion was general, is it likely that the private secre- 
tary of lord Sackville would be ignorant of it ? 

As to the talents of Sackville, Mr. Barker, in commenting 
upon an article on Junius in the Edinburgh Review, for June, 
1826, (see Barker's " Claims," p. 247,) says "The remark, 'that 
the general vigor of a man's mental powers affords little more 
proof that he would be a good writer, than that he could be a 
good painter,' aims a decisive blow against the claims made for 
lord George Sackville, whose very defence on his trial is stated 
by Cumberland to have been the composition of Dr. Sheb- 
beare, who was rewarded for it with 1000/. 

Mr. Taylor (see " Junius Identified," p. 64.) says, " This noble- 
man has been suspected by many to be the author of Junius ;" 
(that is after the publication of the remarks in this Essay) " but 
exclusive of other cogent reasons to the contrary, he was so 
defective in literary attainments, as to be even incapable of 
writing good English. See a letter of his inserted in the second 
edition of Woodfall's Junius. See also Sir N. Wraxall's cha- 
racter of his lordship, and Cumberland's eulogy on viscount 
Sackville, inserted in Collins's Peerage, last edition, where this 
description is confirmed beyond all dispute." 

Mr. Coventry, (see " Junius Unmasked," p. 47,) says, " I am 
aware, that Richard Cumberland, who was secretary under 
Sackville, has expressed his belief that his lordship was defi- 
cient in classical attainments, and was incapable of writing the 
letters of Junius." 

To suppose that Junius, if he had been questioned as Sack- 



* Sackville, "in 1769, took the name of Germain in consequence of the will 
of lady Betty Germain, who bequeathed to him 20,000 pounds in personal pro- 
perty besides valuable estates at Drayton in Northamptonshire." 



50 EXTRACTS FROM G. WOODFALl's PRELIMINARY ESSAY, 

ville was, would have written to his printer, whom he endea. 
vored to keep in ignorance of his person, in the manner he did, 
is to attribute to him a want of common understanding. It 
would have been almost pointing himself out in direct terms. 

Lord Sackville was early initiated into military life. In 1737, 
" at the age of twenty-one (says Mr. Coventry in his memoirs) 
he obtained a commission in the army ; and in 1758 was ap- 
pointed a heutenant-general. August 1, 1759, was fought the 
battle of Minden, at which he was accused of disobeying the 
orders of prince Ferdinand. He was degraded from office by 
a court-martial, and adjudged unfit to serve his majesty in any 
military capacity whatever." 

To this passage Junius alludes in the passage referred to by 
the editor as accusing him of want of courage. The allusion 
is made in one of the miscellaneous letters, dated Oct. 22, 1767. 
It is composed in satirical dialogue ; in which one of the speak- 
ers is made to say, " I believe the best thing I can do will be to 
consult with my lord George Sackville. His character is 
known and respected in Ireland as much as it is here ; and I 
know he loves to be stationed in the rear as well as myself." 
It is not very probable that general Sackville would allude to 
his own disgrace in this manner. 

It is remarked in Mr. Barker's work, and I should suppose 
very justly, that any one the least acquainted with the habits 
and mode of life of an English nobleman of fortune, would be 
convinced that none of that class would submit to the drudgery 
to which Junius must have subjected himself. 

I had prepared extracts from the speeches of lord Sackville 
in parliament, as well as traits of character taken from his me- 
moirs, to show that neither his talents nor character justified the 
least suspicion that he was Junius ; but, upon reflection, con- 
cluded that any further notice of him in relation to this subject 
would be deemed superfluous. 



CLAIMS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. 51 



CHAPTER IV. 

Claims of Sir Philip Francis to the Authorship of Junius's 
Letters, examined. 

I shall now take notice of the claims of a gentleman who has 
gained, probably, more proselytes than any competitor that has 
entered the lists of fame in the long and arduous contest for the 
authorship of Junius's letters. This he has effected by the easi- 
est possible means ; not, like Boyd, by fruitless attempts to imi- 
tate the style of Junius, but by fairly copying his expressions 
verbatim, with a few transpositions of words in some cases. 
The experiment was bold and hazardous, and therefore entitles 
the writer to the greater credit for the success attending it. 
The gentleman to whom I allude is Sir PhiHp Francis. 

The author of the foregoing Essay said, that ' Junius was no 
imitator or copyist of any man, and least of all of himself!' 
But if Mr, Francis was Junius, Junius has copied, on different 
occasions, nearly all the forcible expressions contained in his 
celebrated letters. 

The Edinburgh Review for June, 1826, (see Barker's 
" Claims," p. 246,) observes, that " Some resemblance of style 
in Francis, is a very inconsiderable argument ; for almost every 
contributor to a newspaper, during the twenty years, which fol- 
lowed the letters, was an imitator of Junius," — " The article 
whence this extract is taken, is understood (says Mr. Barker) to 
have been the composition of Sir James Mackintosh." 

It does not, however, appear that Mr. Francis had recourse 
to this expedient. He seems to have staked his reputation of 
authorship upon liberal drafts from the letters themselves, instead 
of endeavoring to imitate their style. 

The writer who has brought forward this candidate, is Mr. 
John Taylor, in a work entitled, " Identity of Junius," &c., as 
mentioned at the commencement of this volume. From this 
work I shall make considerable extracts. 



•3'2 CLAIMS Ol' 

" No person, at the present day," says Mr. Taylor, " could 
expect to find in the avowed productions of Junius any clue, 
that would directly lead to a discovery of the author. Had this 
knowledge been attainable from the letters which have hitherto 
appeared under his name, the curiosity of the pubhc would long 
since have received its gratification : but, qui nescit dissimulare 
nescit vivere, was a maxim too well understood by the writer, 
to admit of his forgetting it on such important occasions. The 
only prospect of obtaining light on the subject consisted, there- 
fore, in those private and miscellaneous letters which have re- 
cently made their appearance. To these my attention was 
more particularly directed by common curiosity, without any 
expectation of finding out the writer. In this quarter, however, 
those passages were observed, which gave rise to the present 
investigation. 

Nearly at the end of the third volume, I was struck with the 
unparalleled zeal which the writer displayed in the cause of two 
individuals belonging to the War-office. It appeared that Mr. 
D'Oyley, a clerk in that establishment, had a short time before 
been deprived of his situation, through the interference of lord 
Bai'rington : and the writer of the letter to which I allude, de- 
sires Mr. Woodfall to inform the public, ' that the worthy lord 
Barrington, not contented w ith having driven Mr. D'Oyley out 
of the War-office, had at last contrived to expel Mr. Francis.' 
The editor states in a note, that this was the present Sir Philip 
Francis. Surprised at the occurrence of this name, and at an 
interference so extraordinary^, I began to consider whether Sir 
Philip might not have been the writer. His general character 
for politics and literature proved him to possess the requisite 
qualifications ; and on reference to his Life in the Public Charac- 
ters, I saw sufficient evidence, as I thought, to confirm my con- 
jecture. The impression made by the facts there related, was 
strengthened by a comparison of style. From these materials 
a statement was drawn up, entitled a Discovery of the Author 
of the Letters. 

Before it went to press, I requested a friend to call, on Sir 
Philip Francis, and inform him, that if he had the slightest objec- 
tion to have his name connected with the investigation, he might 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. 



53 



rely on tiie total suppression of the work. I am satistied this 
communication was made in a way which must have convinced 
Sir Philip that it proceeded solely from a respect for his feelings, 
and that what was proposed would be performed. It was 
perhaps due to him that not a step should be taken without his 
permission ; nor could his refusal betray him into an implied 
admission of the truth of the charge. A simple negative would 
leave it still undetermined, whether his aversion proceeded from 
a dread of the disclosure, — or from a tender respect for his 
father's memory, — or from a reasonable dislike to that free dis- 
cussion of his own character and qualifications, which the ques- 
tion of necessity required. His reply was liberal enough. ' You 
are quite at liberty to print whatever you think proper, pro- 
vided nothing scandalous be said respecting my private charac- 
ter:' 

Very liberal indeed ! Mr. Francis has no objection to be con- 
sidered the author of Junius's letters, provided no reflections be 
cast upon Junius, calculated to injure his private character. 
After this unequivocal permission to use his name in the manner 
proposed, no mawkish, half-way denial can have the least 
weight. The book was out ; the die was cast ; and whether 
Mr. Philips commented upon the work or not, was probably 
indifferent to Mr. Francis. 

Mr. Taylor must excuse me, but I do seriously suspect that 
the materials for his statement, were in great part furnished 
by Mr. Francis himself, through the mutual friend above men- 
tioned, though without the luiowledge of the former. The labor 
of searching out the parallels here exhibited, would have been 
immense to any other man than Mr. Francis ; who probably 
knew where to put his hand upon each similitude, and it does 
seem, would not have been undertaken by a disinterested 
person. 

" Soon after the appearance of the pamphlet, the editor of 
the Monthly Magazine, intending to notice it in that work, wrote 
to Sir Philip Francis, to ask him whether the conjecture was 
correct. The editor did not recollect the distinction drawn by 
that strict moralist, Dr. Johnson, between spontaneous and ex- 
torted fvjknowledgments ; or, probably, he would not have 
taken the trouble to make this application. 



54 (J L AIMS OF 

It suits neither my purpose nor my inclination to give a false 
coloring to this singular affair. The following extract from the 
Monthly Magazine, will show the reader the exact nature of the 
question put to Sir Philip Francis, and in what guarded terms 
he couched his reply. 

Speaking of the pamphlet which contains the charge, ' We 
confess, (says the editor of the Magazine,) ' we were at first 
startled by this hypothesis, from its temerity ; because, if not 
true, Sir Philip Francis would be able by a word to disprove it ; 
and it could not be supposed that so much labour and expense 
would be hazarded except on indubitable grounds. To be able 
therefore to render this article as conclusive as possible, we 
addressed Sir Philip Francis on the subject, in the way the least 
likely to render the inquiry oftensive ; and in reply received the 
following epistle, which we insert at length, in justice to Sir 
Philip and the public." 

' Sir, — The great civility of your letter induces me to answer 
it, which, with reference merely to its subject matter, I should 
have declined. Whether you will assist in giving currency to 
a silly, malignant falsehood, is a question for your own discre- 
tion. To me it is a matter of perfect indifference. 

' I am, Sir, yours &c. 

'P. Francis. 

' To the Editor of The Monthly Magazine.' 

I need not ask the reader whether this letter is evasive or not. 

He will perhaps wonder how any one could have been mis- 
led by it for a moment. Sir Richard Philips, however, with a 
simplicity that does him honor, did not perceive the futility of 
this pretended disavowal, though he had just stated, properly 
enough, that if the hypothesis were " not true. Sir Philip Fran- 
cis would be able, by a word, to disprove it." It certainly is not 
so disproved, and we are therefore authorised to conclude that 
it could not fairly be disputed. No man, who had it in his 
power to give a simple negative to such a question, would 
have had recourse to an inuendo. The only surprising part of 
the transaction is, that any answer should have been returned 
by one who knew that he could not send a better ; but perhaps 
Sir Philip had no suspicion that it would be printed verbatim in 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. •^•> 

ihe Monthly Magazine. He must have thought the editor of 
that pubUcation would state the denial in his own way, and that 
if an impression were made on his mind in the first instance, 
the public would be convinced at second hand. 

Without supposing this, we are involved in a difficulty of a 
very peculiar kind : the abundance of the evidence being actu- 
ally in danger of stifling the charge. For it would appear, that 
if Sir Philip calculated upon his own reply being given to the 
public, he could scarcely have taken a more effectual step to 
make the world believe he was Junius. His unequivocal affirma- 
tion of the fact would not have been so directly convincing, 
since there exists no reason why the author whoever he be, 
should now make that disclosure which he had resolved to with- 
hold for ever ; and unless some sufficient motive apparently 
urged him to a public acknowledgment, his claiming it would 
but subject him to the imputation of unfounded pretensions. 

On the other hand, to deem the evasion unintentional, is not 
only affi-onting to the understanding of Sir Philip, but at vari- 
ance with every trait in his character." 

I shall here give the letter entire that first excited in the 
mind of Mr. Taylor a suspicion that Philip Francis was the 
author of Junius's letters. It was dated two months after 
Junius ceased to write under that signature. If, therefore, 
Francis was angry at being dismissed from the war-office, its 
occurrence happened too late to have caused him to compose 
these letters, as they were all written while he was busily em- 
ployed in the service of government, and had not then, proba- 
bly, time at his command to read, much less to write them. It 
was not requisite for lord Barrington to dismiss one or two 
clerks from his office to excite the ire of Junius, although he 
made it a sham pretext for abusing him. D'Oyley and Francis 
were, perhaps, not even known to Junius. That he was a stran- 
ger to D'Oyley, is evident from his not mentioning his name in 
the first letter in which he takes notice of the appointment of 
Chamier, who succeeded to his place. He abuses Barrington 
for appointing this man, but says nothing of his predecessor. 



.lb 



CLAIMS or 



whom he pretends afterwards to have found to be a most excel- 
lent character. 

Junius, long before he wrote the letter in question, had made 
reiterated attacks upon lord Barrington. He had addressed 
four letters directly to him, under the same signature of Vete- 
ran ; in one of which he accuses him of having " urged and 
exhorted the guards to embrue their hands in the blood of their 
fellow-subjects in St. George's Fields." In another he says, 
" When the bloody Barrington, that silken, fawning courtier at 
St. James's — that stern and insolent minister at the war-office, 
is pointed out to universal contempt and detestation, you smile, 
indeed, but the last agonies of the hysteric passion are painted 
in your countenance. Your cheek betrays what passes within 
you, and your whole frame is in convulsions." And afterwards 
in a letter signed Nemesis, he says, " For this man (lord Bar- 
rington) it was reserved, to give it under his hand, that he 
rejoiced and exulted in the blood of his fellow-subjects. This 
stroke alone would be sufficient to determine his character." 

Junius accompanied the first letter to lord Barrington, in the 
series under the signature of Veteran, with a private note to 
Woodfall, dated Jan. 25, 1772, in which he says, " Having 
nothing better to do, I propose to entertain myself and the pub- 
lic with torturing that ************ Barrington. He has just 
appointed a French broker his deputy, for no reason but his 
relation to Bradshaw. I hear from all quarters that it is looked 
upon as a most impudent insult to the army. — Be careful not to 
have it known to come from me. Such an insignificant crea- 
ture is not worth the generous rage of Junius." 

This letter is dated just four days after the date of the last 
letter signed Junius ; and it seems the author wanted something 
to do. But Mr. Francis, who was then snug in the war-office, 
where he had, no douot, full employment, could not, with any 
propriety, have expressed himself in the manner Junius did. 
Nor would he probably have had the consummate vanity to 
show such contempt for the deputy secretary at war, when he 
iield a place in the same department of inferior grade. 

In a private letter to Woodfall, dated Feb. 22, Junius says. 
" The appointment of this broker. 1 am told, gives universal 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. Oi 

disgust. That would never have taken a step appa- 
rently so absurd, if there were not some wicked design in it 
more than we are aware of. At any rate the broker should be 
run down. That, at least, is due to his master." 

Here the views of Junius are fully developed. It was not 
to benefit the servants, but to injure the master, that he took 
notice of these displacements. The case of poor Francis is 
not even alluded to in these private communications. 

But it is time to give the letter that has caused so much trou- 
ble to Mr. Taylor. 

"TO THE PRINTER OF THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER. 

March 23, 1772. 

" Sir, — I desire you will inform the public, that the worthy 
Lord Barrington, not contented with having driven Mr. D'Oyley 
out of the war-office, has at last contrived to expel Mr. Fran- 
cis. His lordship will never rest till he has cleared his office of 
every gentleman who can either be serviceable to the public, or 
whose honor and integrity are a check upon his own dark pro- 
ceedings. Men, who do their duty with credit and ability, are 
not proper instruments for lord Barrington to work with. He 
must have a broker from 'Change Alley for his deputy, and 
some raw, ignorant boy for his first clerk. I think the public 
have a right to call upon Mr. D'Oyley and Mr. Francis to declare 
their reasons for quitting the war-office. Men of their unblem- 
ished character do not resign lucrative employments without 
some sufficient reasons. The conduct of these gentlemen has 
always been approved of, and I know that they stand as well 
in the esteem of the army, as any persons in their station ever 
did. What then can be the cause that the public and the army 
should be deprived of their service? There must certainly be some- 
thing about lord Barrington which every honest man dreads and 
detests. Or is it that they cannot be brought to connive at his 
jobs and underhand dealings ? They have too much honor, I 
suppose, to do some certain business by commission. They 
have not been educated in the conversation of Jews and gam- 
blers ; — they have had no experience at Jonathan's ; — they 
know nothing of the stocks ; and therefore lord Barrington 
drives them out of the war-office. The army indeed is come, 

8 



OS CLAIMS 01' 

to a fine pass, with a gambling broker at the head of it ! — What 
signifies abiHty, or integrity, or practice, or experience in busi» 
ness. Lord Banington feels himself uneasy while men with 
such qualifications are about him. He wants nothing in his 
office but ignorance, impudence, pertness, and servility. Of 
these commodities he has laid in a plentiful stock, that ought to 
last him as long as he is Secretary at war. Again, I wish that 
Mr. Francis and Mr. D'Oyley would give the public some ac- 
count of what is going forward in the war-office. I think these 
events so remarkable, that some notice ought to be taken of 
them in the House of Commons. When the public loses the 
service of two able and honest servants, it is but reasonable 
that the wretch, who drives such men out of a public office, 
should be compelled to give some account of himself and his 
proceedings. Veteran." 

AN ABSTRACT OF MEMOIRS OF SIR PHILIP FRANCIS, K. E- 

" These memoirs, (says Mr. Barker, p. 158) of which Mr. 
Taylor observes that the author evidently had good ' authority 
for all he says,' were inserted in the Monthly Mirror for May and 
June, 1810 ; and I do not scruple to declare my full conviction 
that they bear internal and unequivocal traces of Sir Philip's 
own pen." — It is hardly possible that any man would speak of 
another in the ridiculous and fulsome manner in which these 
memoirs are written. I am therefore fully of opinion with Mr. 
B., that Mr. Francis was his own trumpeter. The triffing and 
minute circumstances here detailed, could not have been known 
to any other person. The vanity, therefore, of Sir Philip, 
which is said to have been unbounded, can alone account for 
this inflated production. 

" The origin of this gentleman is not, like that of some of the 
greatest names of antiquity, buried in the impenetrable obscurity 
of unrecorded ages. He was born in Dublin on the 22nd of 
October, 1740, old style. His father, Philip Francis, D. D. is 
sufficiently known in the learned world. His grandfather, 
John Francis, was dean of the cathedral of Lismore in Ireland, 
to which he was appointed on the 30th of July, 1722, and his 
great-grandfather, John Francis, became dean of Leighlin, by 



SlU PHILIP PRAXOlis. ofl 

patent, dated 21st of August, 1696, and appears, by. Ware's 
History of Ireland, to have sat in convocation in Dublin, in 1704. 
This old gentleman is also supposed to have had a father, 
whose name and memory are unfortunately lost in the abyss of 
time. These particulars have been carefully collected from the 
herald's offices in Doctor's Commons, and in Dublin. In the 
former, it vs^as discovered by a great antiquary, whose business 
it was to find materials for the pedigree of Sir Philip, on his 
admission to the order of the Bath, that previous to the corona- 
tion of Richard II., Richard Francis, who bore exactly the same 
arms as the present knight, was created a knight of the Bath, 
and if Sir Philip does not descend lineally from that person, it 
was entirely his own fault. The heralds offered to prove it by 
an exact genealogy, provided always that Sir Philip would pay 
down two hundred pounds for such advantage. After maturely 
weighing the honor against the price, he is believed to have de- 
clined that liberal offer. His mother's name appems to have 
been Elizabeth Roe, whose father thought himself descended 
from the famous Sir Thomas Roe, who Hved in the reign of 
James the First, and was sent ambassador to the Great Mogul, 
by that learned monarch. But here again the links are wanting, 
or the heralds ran mute for want of encouragement. 

Sir Philip received the first elements of his education under 
Thomas Ball, who succeeded Dr. Dunkin, (names well known 
in Ireland) and who kept a school in a church in Ship-street. 
In the beginning of 1750 he came to England. In 1753 he 
was placed at St. Paul's-school, under the care of Mr. George 
Thicknesse, of whose virtues and learning we have often heard 
liim make honorable mention, and always with an effiision of 
gratitude for the care he took of him. In 1756, Mr. Henry 
Fox, afterwards lord Holland, gave him a little place in the 
Secretary of State's office. Mr. Pitt, who succeeded Mr. Fox, 
patronised and encouraged him, in consequence of the recom- 
mendation of his secretary, Robert Wood. Through that 
patronage he was appointed secretary to General Bligh, in 1758, 
was present at the capture and demolition of Cherburgh, and 
at the attack on the rear guard of our army at St. Cas. From 
mere curiosity, and without arms, he was found standing in the 



(»U CliAlMS OF 

ranks \yhen the French approached very near, and the firing- 
began. In 1760, by the same recommendation, he was appoint- 
ed secretary to the earl of Kinnoul, ambassador to Lisbon, when 
the present queen of Portugal was married to her uncle. The 
uncle and the niece had a son, the present prince of the Brazils, 
who married his mother's sister. Such is the constitution of 
the house of Braganza, In 1763 he was appointed by the late 
lord Mendip, then Welbore Ellis, Esq. and Secretary at War, 
to a considerable post in the War-ofRce, which he resigned in 
1772, in consequence of a difference with viscount Barrington, 
by whom he thought himself injured. Possibly lord Barrington 
thought so too, or that something was due to Mr. Francis, as 
will appear hereafter. The greatest part of the year 1772 he 
spent in travelling through Flanders, part of Germany, the 
Tyrol, Italy, and France, with his intimate friend, the late David 
Godfrey. Dming his residence at Rome he went to Castel 
Gondolfo, where he was introduced to Pope Ganganelli, and 
had a curious conference with his holiness, of near two hours, 
the particulars of which are, it is said, preserved in a letter from 
him to the late Dr. Campbell,* with whom he was very intimate. 
In about half a year after his return to England, lord Barring- 
ton most honorably and generously recommended him to lord 
North, by whom his name was inserted in an act of parliament, 
passed in June, 1773, to be a member of the council appointed 
for the government of Bengal, in conjunction with Warren 
Hastings, governor-general; John Clavering, commander-in- 
chief ; George Monson ; and Richard Barwell. 

The records of his long contest with Mr. Hastings are pre- 
served in the books of the council, the reports of the committee, 
and in the journals of the House of Commons. 

On the dissolution of parliament in 1784, he was elected for 
Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight. 



* " I recommend to Mr. Taylor, to endeavor to obtain a sight of this letter ; I 
have made tlie endeavor without success. A sight of this letter written in the 
same year, in which Junius ceased to write, would afford to us some little criterion 
for judging of the style and the abilities of Sir Philip ; and a much safer criterion 
than any of those published writings of his, the earliest of which appeared several 
years after Junius ceased to write." — Barker, p. 157. 



*IR PHILIP I'RANCIS". Gi 

On the 19th of April, 1787, he moved the revenue charge 
against Mr. Hastings, and carried it against Mr. Pitt, the w hole 
strength of government, and the Indian interest, by a majority 
of seventy-one to fifty-five. Mr. Pitt was determined to be 
even with him, and on the 11th of December, 1787, employed 
two of his dependants to move that his name should be omitted, 
when the managers to conduct the impeachment were appointed, 
and he himself had nothing better to say than ' that it was a 
question not of argument but of feeling.' 

On this occasion, the managers of the impeachment thought 
it an act of justice and gratitude due to Mr. Francis, to address 
the following letter to him. 

Committee-room, House of Commons, Dec. 18. 1787. 

' Sir, — There is nothing in the orders of the house which pre- 
vents us from resorting to your assistance ; and we should show 
very little regard to our honor, to our duty, or to the effectual 
execution of our trust, if we omitted any means that ai'e left 
in our power, to obtain the most beneficial use of it. 

An exact local • aowledge of the aftairs of Bengal is requisite 
in every step of our proceedings ; and it is necessary that our 
information should come from sources not only competent but 
unsuspected.' " 

Here follow sentiments very flattering to the vanity of Sir 
Philip, evidently intended to soothe his mortification at being 
rejected from the committee, and to induce him to give to the 
managers of the impeacliment all the information in his posses- 
sion. The letter concludes as follows : 

" Entreating you to favor us, as frequently as you can, with 
your assistance in the committee ; and you shall have due notice 
of the days on which your advice and instructions may be more 
particularly necessary. 

Having given the evidences in favor of Mr. Francis, we 
should act partially and unfairly, though without a personal 
motive of any kind, if we did not state per contra, what has been 
said of him by a person, who, after making a great noise in the 
world, seems now to be lost and forgotten, and who certainly 
must have known whether what he said of him was true or false. 
In the Appendix, No. XI. to the fifth Report of the select com- 



0*2 CLAIMS 01^ 

mittee,in 178*2, there is a minute of Mr. Hastings, communicated 
to Mr. Francis, on the night of the 14th of August, 1780, in 
which he says — 

' My authority for the opinions which I have declared con- 
cerning Mr. Francis, depends on facts which have passed within 
my own certain knowledge. I judge of his public conduct by 
my experience of his private, which I have found to be void of 
truth and honoi\ This is a severe charge, but temperately and 
deliberately made, from the firm persuasion that I owe this 
justice to the public and to myself, as the only redress to both 
for artifices, of which I have been a victim, and which threaten 
to involve their interests with disgrace and ruin. The only re- 
dress for a fraud, for which the law has made no provision, is 
the exposure of it.' 

These inuendos were immediately followed by a challenge 
from Mr. Francis. They met on the 17th of August, and he 
was shot through the body for his trouble. Whatever might be 
the artifices employed by the cold, plotting treachery of Mr. 
Francis, to circumvent a man so artless and free from guile as 
Mr. Hastings, homo simplex et incautus, it is plain from the event, 
that Mr. Hastings was not the victim of them." 

Mr, Hastings, although he was not shot, may have been the 
victim of the treachery of Mr. Francis. — There is a show of im- 
partiality, to be sure, in introducing the allegations of Mr. 
Hastings upon this occasion. It was also calculated to prevent 
suspicion falling upon Mr. Francis as the writer of this memoir; 
and besides, reminded the public at the same time of his un- 
doubted courage. A fact that he seemed anxious should be 
understood. 

" On the 29th of October, 1806, his Majesty, at the recom- 
mendation of lord Grenville, was pleased to invest Mr. Francis 
with the expensive honor of the order of the Bath. A wiser 
man would liave preferi^ed some profit to so much honor, or have 
contrived, by the usual courses, to have united them ; and espe- 
cially as he professes, and has publicly declared that, since 1770, 
he has never received a shilling of the public money of England, 
in any shape, or on any account. 



SIK PHILIP FRANCIS. 63 

This IS but a slight sketch of the subject, and a very hasty 
view of the person. The public life of such a man, so vv^ell 
acquainted with the principal persons of his time, and intimate 
with many of them, conversant in all the transactions of his 
country, and mixed in some of them, though barren of events for 
the Gazette, would be interesting and instructive, if it were 
undertaken and executed hy himself. The history of an ardent 
mind in perpetual action or pursuit, never succeeding, but never 
courting repose or yielding to despondence, could not fail to 
communicate a projectile motion to other minds in parallel 
directions, and to similar objects. They would see that success 
is not necessary to happiness, much less to honor, and that he, 
who contends against adversity and persists without hope, 
cannot be wholly disappointed. 

" Human virtue should be encouraged to believe, what this 
man's life has proved to be true, that, in some shape or other, 
though not in prosperity, there is a reward for perseverance in 
doing right. 

' Though still by folly, vice, and faction crest, 
He finds the generous labour was not lost.' 

•* The apjjrobation of posterity would be no recompense if it 
could not be anticipated. The posthumous praise, the statue, 
and the monument, are incentives to others, but are lost upon the 
dead. He virtually and immediately receives the tribute, who 
is sure it will be paid to his memory : 

' Enjoys the honours destin'd to his name, 
And lives instanter with his future fame.' " 

The remark in the last paragraph, that the approbation of 
posterity would be no recompense " if it could not be antici- 
pated," seems to indicate that Mr. Francis was determined not 
to quit this mortal scene without the enjoyment of this luxury. 
He was now seventy years of age, and probably thought no 
time was to be lost if he calculated on leaving a great name for 
the admiration of posterity ; and aware of the old adage, that 
" nobody speaks well of a person who does not speak well oi' 
himself," he resolved not to suffer through his own neglect. 



04 tJLAIMS OF 

" Thus tar proceeds the author of the Memou's, evidently with 
good authority for all he says : so that if any tiling adverse to 
our view appears on the face of this record, there can be no 
contending with it. Of equal validity is what fell from Sir 
Philip in the course of a speech on India affairs, when he gave 
a short account of " such particular circumstances of his public 
life as bore any relation. to his going to India, his conduct there, 
and his conduct since his return to England." As this account 
will throw additional light upon the information derived from 
his biographer, it is useful to our present inquiry. Mr. Francis 
observed, "That he had been bred up in the secretary of 
state's office, where he had the happiness to possess the favour 
of the late Earl of Egremont, then secretary of state. That in 
1763, Mr. Ellis had appointed him to fill a station of great trust 
in the war-office ; that lord Barrington, who succeeded Mr. 
Ellis, had recommended him to a noble lord (whose absence, 
and more particularly the cause of it, he very sincerely lament- 
ed) as a fit person to be sent out to India as a member of the 
government of Bengal : till that recommendation, he had not 
the honor of being known to lord North. He had, therefore, 
obtained a seat in the council of Calcutta, not through any pri- 
vate interest or intrigue, but he was taken up upon recommenda- 
tion, and that the recommendation of persons of high r-ank, 
those who best knew his character and qualifications, and who 
certainly would not have so far disgraced themselves as to have 
recommended an improper person, knowing him to be such, to 
go out to India in a station of so much power and importance. 
He had, accordingly, been nominated with general Clavering 
and colonel Monson, in the bill of 1773.'" 

Mr. Francis must have possessed unbounded merit according 
to his own account ; but certainly his pretensions would be 
entitled to more respect if set forth by any other person than 
himself. " This statement, however, (Mr. Barker observes, p. 
162,) is directly opposed to the hypothesis of Mr.jTaylor, who in 
that appointment unwarrantably traces the silenced and bribed 
Junius. Mr. Butler, in his reminiscences, writes thus : ' The re- 
miniscent has been informed by the present (late) bishop of Dur- 
ham, that Sir Philip owed the continuance of his seat in the war- 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. 



65 



office to the kindness of lord Barrington, the prelate's brother ; 
and his appointment in India was chiefly, if not wholly, due to his 
lordship's recommendation of him to lord North. After this, 
if we consider how Junius wrote of lord Barrington, we cannot 
be surprised that, if Sir Philip were the author of Junius's let- 
ters, he should wish to be unknown.' But, on the contrary, Mr. 
Francis seems to wish it to be believed that he was the author. 
The long sacerdotal race through which Sir Philip traces his 
pedigree, in a country where church and state are united, in 
my opinion, forms the only rational clue to this extraordinary 
appointment. 

" The same work to which we are indebted for the authentic 
biography of Sir Philip Francis, contains a critique on his cha- 
racter as an author, which in every respect may be considered 
as a fit companion for the preceding. If our conjecture be well 
founded, the two portraits should be strikingly alike, though 
they vary in the time of life, and are sketched by different hands : 
let the reader compare them, and see whether they do not fulfil 
this expectation. 

' The works of Sir Philip Francis resemble in a great mea- 
sure, those of Lord Bacon, of whom it was said, that no man 
crammed so much meaning into so few words, or, as Edmund 
Burke, said of his style, there is no gummy jlesh in it. His 
language is figurative and expressive in perfection. You never 
doubt about his meaning. In argument, he lightens rather than 
reasons on his subject. Vivid flashes from his mind, in lapid 
succession, illuminate the question, not hy formal induction, hut 
by uniform splendour and irresistible corruscationJ 

'His style is so perfectly musical, and moves to such a 
sprightly, animated, and interesting measure, that, as it has been 
observed of Greek, there would be a delight in hearing it read, 
even if one did not understand it. The sentences are so con- 
structed that they roll down of themselves, and, like Sisjrphus's 
stone, the moment they reach the bottom, rebound, and mount 
again on the other side. 

' This excellence is not, however, produced by a sacrifice to 
pedantic or affected phrases. The essence of language is to he 

9 



66 CLAIMS OF 

intelligible. New-fangled terms, and sesquipedalian words, may 
please fools, and deceive them into a belief that they cover 
sense ; but sense, were it ever so accompanied, would be disgraced 
by such ornaments. As Sir Philip has a fine ear for the collocation 
of ivorcls, so has he a true taste in their selection. The first of 
Latin critics has said : " Utinam ut verba in usu quotidiano posita 
minus timeremus"* Our author has felt the weight of that 
remark, and by it acquired a 7ioble simplicity of expression, 
worthy of his thoughts. Every thing in his writings, whether 
profound or otherwise, is plain and clear. He that runs may 
read, and dulness itself may comprehend.'f " 

" Even this critique on his writings (Mr. Barker observes) is 
manifestly drawn from Sir Philip's own well ;" and adds, " In 
confirmation of our opinion that the Memoirs emanated from 
Sir Philip, we may remark that the same periodical, which had 
in 1810 inserted them, contains, in the number for Jan. 1811, 
Sir Philip's paper on the Regency Question, evidently commu- 
nicated by himself." 

After making several extracts from Junius respecting lord 
Chatham, Mr. Taylor proceeds : 

" Let us turn now to Sir Philip Francis, and see what was his 
opinion of lord Chatham. We need not look far, nor trouble 
ourselves with a long inference. It is recorded on more than 
one occasion, and in terms so express as to leave no doubt of 
its exact agreement with that of Junius. 

' In the early part of my Ufe," (says Sir Philip,) ' I had the 
good fortune to hold a place very inconsiderable in itself, but 
immediately under the late earl of Chatham. He descended 
from his station to take notice of mine ; and he honored me with 
repeated marks of his favor and protection. How warmly, in 
return, I was attached to his person, and how I have been 
grateful to his memory, they, who know me, know. / admired 
him, as a great, illustrious, faulty, human being, whose charac- 
ter, like all the noblest works of human composition, should be 



* Vi^ould to God that we feared less to adopt words in common use. — Jim. Edit. 
t Monthly Mirror, March 1810. 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS 



67 



determined by its excellences, not by its defects. 1 should not 
have mentioned these circumstances, though I confess I am 
proud of them, if they did not lead me naturally to the subject 
immediately in question. In the year 1760, Mr. secretary Pitt 
recommended it to the late king to send the present earl of 
Kinnoul ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the 
court of Lisbon. The same recommendation engaged the noble 
lord to appoint me his secretary.' 

In a subsequent speech. Sir Philip again mentions lord Chat- 
ham as ' a person whose name he should never recollect without 
admiration and reverence.^ 

When the late Mr. Pitt, by his India Bill, proposed to take 
the trial by jury out of the Indian system of judicature, Mr. 
Francis spoke as follows : — 

' If a British House of Commons can on any terms consent, 
in any instance, to abolish a trial by jury, and if the people at 
large are insensible of the danger of such a precedent, individu- 
als w^ho have done their duty must submit to their share in the 
mischief which they could not prevent. I fear the temper 
and character of the nation are changed. Though I am not 
an old man, I can remember the time when an attempt of this 
nature would have thrown the whole kingdom into aflame. Had 
it been made when a great man [the late earl of Chatham,] w ho 
is now no more, had a seat in this House, he would have started 
from the bed of sickness, he would have solicited, some friendly 
hand to deposit him on this floor, and from this station with a 
monarch's voice would have called the kingdom to arms to oppose 
it. But he is dead, and has left nothing in this wo? Id that re- 
sembles him. He is dead ; and the sense, and honor, and char- 
acter, and understanding of the nation are dead ivith him.' " 

The remarks in the extract from the first speech inserted 
above, appear to have been introduced by Mr. Francis for no 
other purpose than to remind the House of Commons, that he 
had been secretary to the earl of Kinnoul in an embassy to 
Lisbon, through the recommendation of Mr. Pitt. The fulsome 
praises bestowed upon the earl of Chatham throughout the whole, 
agree neither with the style of Junius, nor with his sentiment? 
respecting the man often repeated in his letters. The few com- 



68 CLAIMS OF 

pliments passed upon lord Chatham b)'^ Junius, in a letter to 
Mr. Home, are evidently ironical or insincere ; which he fully 
explained at the time in a letter to Wilkes that will hereafter 
appear. In the very letter containing the femt praises of 
Chatham, which has been so much dwelt upon, Junius says, 
" I am not conversant in the language of panegjTic. — These 
praises are extorted from me." 

Junius had too much just pride and self-respect, and was too 
conscious of his own abilities to eulogize any man in the ex- 
travagant manner of Francis. And in regard to lord Chatham, 
he frequently expressed the most decided contempt. Mr. 
Francis, to be sure, possessed no small share of vanity ; but in 
this case, he flatters himself by exalting lord Chatham, and at 
the same time representing him as his particular and intimate 
friend. 



CHAPTER V. 

Remarks of Mr. Francis on the Regency Question — Passages 
in the Writings and Speeches of Mr. Francis compared with 
Passages in the Letters of Junius — Remarks. 

I PASS on to the consideration of a " Paper drawn up by Sir 
Philip, in reference to the late Regency Question," signed Philip 
Francis, and dated Dec. 24, 1810. 

This production is characterised by the same disgusting ego- 
tism and self-commendation so conspicuous in his Memoirs, and, 
it will be observed, followed soon after their publication. It 
appears to be intended as the last political Will and Testament 
of Sir Philip Francis ; and to render it applicable and suitable 
to be written by Junius, the style and sentiments contained in 
the Dedication of his letters to the English nation are kept con- 
stantly in view. It commences as follows : 

"REGENCY. 

There is an ambition at least, which I will not renounce but 
with my life. It is the ambition of delivering to my posterity 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. 09 

those rights of freedom, which I have received from my ancestors. 
—Earl of Chatham, Jan. 9, 1770. 

After the noble speaker of these words, VtX) man has so good 
a right to make use of them as I have. They express a princi- 
ple on which I have acted, and I resort to them as my own. In 
my judgment, every rational man in these kingdoms has as good 
a right to deliver his opinion on the fundamental principles of 
the constitution, now brought into question, as any peer or com- 
moner who takes a seat in either of the chambers of Parlia- 
ment. For myself, I might, perhaps, claim something more 
from age, from experience, and long unblemished public service ; 
but still more from the school I was bred in, and from the society 
of many eminent 7?ien whom I have had the honor to live with, 
and the misfortune to survive. This is all I contend for. I 
speak to the nation, and not for any interest of my own. My 
concern in any thing that may happen now, is very unlikely to 
last long. If they will not listen to the voice of ti-uth and rea- 
son, they shall hear it. No man who now assists or concurs in 
doing wrong, shall have it to plead that he was left without 
information and knew no better. My conclusions will be 
stated in their place. They are founded on principles which 
want no proof, and cannot be disputed. 

1. I assert that the crown of these kingdoms is hereditaiy, 
and is not, or ever was, elective. 

2. That the crown is not a bare inheritance, but an inherit- 
ance accompanying an office of trust, and to be executed, not 
for the personal exclusive benefit of the king, but of that body 
politic of which the king is the head. 

3. That nothing less than an act of the legislature can trans- 
fer the crown, or alter the succession to it. 

4. That the government of this kingdom is by king, lords, 
and commons. 

5. That the lords and commons, without the king, are not, 
and cannot be a parliament. 

6. That no two of the component parts of the legislature are 
competent to perform any legislative act whatsoever. Were it 
otherwise, the two acting powers might abolish the third ; or 
Avithout abolishing the name, might annihilate the functions. 



7U CLAIMS or 

7. That, on the natural death of the king, the succession ol' 
the next heir is instant, without a vacancy. The crown devolves 
on his head by demise, without any act of his own, and with- 
out the consent of any other power, party, or person whatso- 
ever." 

Here Mr. Francis proceeds to prove his propositions ; which 
I believe no man in England ever disputed. It would be 
equally apposite for an American seriously to state, that in an 
election for president of the United States, he who obtained a 
majority of the votes of the electors, was ipso facto president ; 
and the same of vice-president, &c. &c. and then advance a 
string of arguments in support of his declarations. 

After concluding Sir Philip's remarks, Mr. Taylor proceeds : 

" To produce a few citations from Junius, in which the pre- 
ceding doctrines are maintained, in nearly the same words, will 
contribute more to certify his identity with Sir Philip Francis 
than any remarks which might be made upon them. 

Sir Philip begins with affirming, that ' every rational man in 
these kingdoms has as good] a right to deliver his opinion on the 
fundamental principles of the constitution, as any peer or com- 
moner who takes a seat in either of the chambers of parlia- 
ment.' 

Junius was of the same opinion. ' At such a moment no 
honest man will remain silent or inactive. However distin- 
guished by rank or property, in the rights of freedom we are all 
equal. As we are all Englishmen, the least considerable man 
among us has an interest equal to the proudest 7iobleman, in the 
laws and constitution of his country, and is equally called upon 
to make a generous contribution in support of them ; whether 
it be the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, or the 
hand to execute. It is a common cause, in lohich we are all 
interested, in which we should all he engaged^ 

Sir Philip says, ' / speak to the nation, and not for any inte- 
rest of my own.' In like manner Junius dedicates his labors 
to the English nation, and declares, ' / speak to the plain under- 
standing of the people.^ Sir Philip adds, ' my concern in any 
thing that may happen now is very unlikely to last long. If 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. 71 

they will not listen to the voice of truth and reason, they shall 
hear it. No man who now assists or concurs in doing wrong, s/ia/^ 
hive it to plead that he was left loithout information, and knew 
no better." Junius employs the same remarkable phraseology. 
' The voice of one man will hardly be heard, wiien the voice of 
truth and reason is neglected.' — ' Your voice was heard until 
the voice of truth and reason was drowned in the din of arms.' 
And he concludes his dedication in a strain very similar to the 
rest of the paragraph : — ' You are roused at last to a sense of 
your danger. The remedy will soon be in your power. If 
Junius lives, you shall often he reminded of it. If, when the 
opportunity presents itself, you neglect to do your duty to your- 
selves and to posterity, — to God and to your country, — I shall 
have one consolation left, in common with the meanest and 
basest of mankind. — Civil liberty may still last the life of 
Junius.' 

The first, second, third, fourth, and seventh propositions of 
the Essay, are too obvious to allow of a difference of opinion. 
The fifth and sixth admit of comparisons with Junius. Sir 
Philip says, ' That the lords and commons, without the king, are 
not, and cannot be a parliament. That no two of the compo- 
nent parts of the legislature are competent to perform any legis- 
lative act ivhatsoever. Were it otherwise, the two acting pow- 
ers might abolish the third ; or without abolishing the name, 
might annihilate the functions.' 

The language held by Junius, on these points, is equally clear 
and decisive : 

' To do justice to the ministry, they have not pretended that 
any one or any two of the three estates have power to make a 
new law, without the concurrence of a third. They know that 
a man who maintains such a doctrine, is liable by statute to the 
heaviest penalties.^ " 

Mr. Taylor candidly acknowledges that, "the 1st, '2nd, 3rd, 4th, 
and 7th, propositions of the Essay, are too obvious to allow of 
a difference of opinion. The 5th and 6th, admit of compari- 
sons vnth Junius." Were they not intended for that purpose '? 

Is there not a vast difference in the manner and mode of 



72 CLAIMS OF 

thinking of these two writers ? To call upon every man to do 
his duty in the exercise of his inaUenable rights, as Junius does? 
is very different from the pompous declaration of Mr. Francis, 
that every man has a right to deliver his opinion, which nobody 
in his senses ever doubted. 

Mr. Francis says, " If they will not Usten to the voice of truth 
and reason, they shall hear it." This appears to be intended to 
accord with an expression of Junius afterwards quoted : but it 
is entirely outre and out of place. For it cannot be contended, 
that INIr. Francis gave forth any important truths in this Essay 
about the regency. The subject did not admit of it ; and, I 
dare say, excited no attention whatever. 

I will now give an abstract of Mr. Taylor's collection of 
parallel passages extracted from Junius, and the promiscuous 
writings and speeches of Mr. Francis ; which, in my opinion, 
exhibit specimens of as palpable plagiarisms on the part of 
Sir Philip, as have ever disgraced the annals of literature. 
The dates of the extracts from Mr. Francis, as far as given, vary • 
from 1775 to 1793 ; which allows full time for him to become 
perfectly familiar with the writings of Junius. 

Junius. — " It is true he professes doctrines which would be 
treason in America, but in England, at least, he has the laws of 
his side." 

Francis. — " But he who knows that he has tlve law of his side, 
will never think of appeahng to necessity for a defence of the 
legality of his measures." 

Junius. — " So far forth as it operates, it constitutes a House 
of Commons which does not represent the people." 

Francis. — " So far forth I also meet the opinion of the 
Governor-General and Mr. Barwell." 

The following expression is a solecism : — 

Junius. — " I am sorry to tell you. Sir William, that in this 
article, your first fact is false." 

Francis. — " This part of the motion, I say, implies a false 
fact." 

This word '• examinable," occurs in no dictionary. 

Junius. — " The cases to prove that the assumed privileges of 



SIR PHILIP FRANC;l!<. 73 

either House of Parliament are not examinable elsewhere than 
in their own houses, are lord Shaftesburj^s case, &:c." 

Francis. — " He has added some specific evidence, which 1 
shall take the liberty to examine, because it is of an examinable 
nature in itself, and happens to be famihar to me." 

In favorite metaphorical expressions, an excellent clue is ob- 
tained for tracing an anonymous author. Of this class, the fol- 
lowing are among the most singular : — 

Junius. — " Go to little 3 per cents reduced ; you'll find him a 
mere scrip of a secretary : an omnium of all that's genteel." 

Francis. — " I say we are a nation of 3 per cents, and nothing 
else." 

Junius. — " Tell us in what instance he has discovered a single 
ray of wisdom, solidity, or judgment." 

" To what an enormous excess it has safely conducted 

your grace, without a ray of real understanding." 

Francis. — "If Moodajee Boosla has a ray of understanding, 
and reflects, &c." 

" Power alone, without a particle of skill, or a ray 

of genius, can do more mischief in a day, than wisdom and 
industry can repair in a century." 

Junius. — "He precludes himself from soliciting, with any 
color of decency, a real and solid reward from the city." 

" With what color of truth can he pretend that I am 

no where to be encountered but in a newspaper ?" 

Francis. — " Our superiors will judge whether the doctrine 
can uyith the least color of truth be applied to any acts of mine." 

" I admit the principle, as far as it can be urged by 

Mr. Hastings with any color of reason or justice." 

Junius. — " The first act of his own administration was to im- 
pose that tax upon America, which has since thrown the whole 
continent into aflame." 

Francis.—" I can remember the time, when an attempt of 
this nature would have thrown the whole kingdom into a flame." 

Junius. — " But perseverance, management, and determined 
good humour, will set every thing right, and, in the end, break 
the heart of Mr. Home." 

10 



74 f LAIMS OF 

Francis. — " They will all make common cause against him, 
and sooner or later overcome his resolution, or break his heart" 

Junius. — " A sick man might as well expect to be cured by a 
consultation of doctors. They talk, and debate, and wrangle, and 
the patient expires." 

Francis. — "The case is pressing. — Men of distinguished 
abilities and long experience recommend different courses. 
Therefore follow none of them. Doctors differ : let the patient 
perish." 

Junius. — " Will you not endeavor to remove or alleviate the 
most dangerous symptoms, because you cannot eradicate the 
disease?" 

Francis. — " The actual choice lies between a disease, which 
threatens immediate dissolution, and a remedy which at least 
gives time for deliberation." 

Junius. — " If the Treasury, withouthearing, is suffered to halloo 
an informer at your estate." 

Francis. — " Even judges themselves came down to support 
him, to greet him with early cheers, and encourage him with 
the smiles and the halloo of government." 

Junius. — " Charles Fox is yet in blossom." 

Francis. — " His (Mr. Pitt's) promises blossom like himself; 
we know not what bitter fruits they may produce." 

Junius. — " We may retire to our prayers, /or the game is up." 

Francis. — " Whether you laugh or cry, tlm game is up." 

Junius. — " It is not that precedents have any weight ivith me in 
opposition to principles ; but I know they weigh with the multi* 
tude." 

Francis. — " He objected to the law as subversive of the prin- 
ciples of the constitution, and not to be justified by any precedents 
opposed to principles." 

Junius. — " One precedent creates another. They soon accu- 
mulate, and constitute law ; what yesterday was fact, to-day is 
doctrine." 

" When such a man stands forth, let the nation look 

to it." 

Francis. — " What yesterday was prosperous, to day is des- 
perate." 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. 75 

Fi*ancis. — " From a civil to a military, from a military to an 
arbitrary government the gradations are easy, and the transi- 
tion will be rapid. The same facts which counteracts princi- 
ples to-day, will be precedents to-morrow, and principles the day 
after. Let the nation look to itr 

Junius. — " To vulgar minds it may appeal' unattainable, be- 
cause vulgar minds make no distinction between the highly dif- 
ficult and the impossible." 

Francis. — " To distinguish and resolve at a glance, in a ques- 
tion instant of life and death, between extreme difficulty and 
positive impossibility, is the surest indication of a superior mind." 

Junius. — " You have no enemies, Sir, but those who persuade 
you to aim at power without right." 

Francis. — " An arbitrary succession of acts o^ power without 
right, flowing from different sources, and excluding every idea 
of unity, regularity, or system." 

Junius. — " The power of king, lords, and commons, is not an 
arbitrary power. They are the trustees, not the owners of the 
estate. The fee simple is in us. They cannot alienate, they 
cannot waste." 

Francis. — " The last appeal I shall make is to the prudence 
of the house. We are trustees for the nation, and accountable for 
the trust reposed in us." 

" As trustees to the Company, we have no discretion- 
ary power to give away their property." 

Junius. — " In a great business, there is nothing so fatal as 
cunning manage ment." 

Francis. — " In the conduct of great affairs, the advantages 
of cunning are very inconsiderable." 

Junius. — " I would engage your favorable attention to what 
I am going to say to you ; and / entreat you not to be too hasty 
in concluding, from the apparent tendency of this letter, to any 
possible interests or connexions of my own." 

Francis. — " My second request is, that gentlemen will have 
the goodness and the candour to hear me out ; that they will not 
suffer their minds to travel faster than I do ; that they will not 
anticipate my conclusions, and much more, that they will not 
conclude for me." 



76 CLAIMS OF 

Francis. — " Again / entreat the house most earnestly on this 
point, not to anticipate my argument, nor to conclude either 
hastily for me or against me." 

The last and the following sentiment could not have been 
seen by Sir Philip Francis, both being contained in one of the 
private letters to Wilkes. 

Junius. — " There is a rule in business that would save much 
time if it were generally adopted. A question once decided, is 
no longer a subject of at^gument." 

Francis. — " / will not continue to argue a question on which I 
have already submitted to judgment. If the event of the present 
measures should ever force an inquiry into the origin and 
motives of them ; the merit of those persons who have promoted 
or opposed them, will not be tried by nice verbal distinctions, or 
by torturing particular expressions in debate, to a sense incon- 
sistent with the general principles, avowed opinions, and miiform 
conduct of those who use them. The inquiry will commence 
at the source of the measures in question." 

Mr. Taylor appears to exult at having found some passages 
in the speeches of Mr. Francis, that bear a resemblance to 
Junius, and which, he thinks, could not have been borrowed 
from his letters. He would, indeed, have great reason to rejoice 
if he could estabUsh this point. But, in my opinion, the examples 
adduced are very imperfect and unsatisfactory. The expres- 
sions of Junius and Francis in the first parallel noticed, are 
similai- to what most men under the like circumstances would 
naturally make use of. Junius wished to bring over the 
members of the supporters of the Bill of Rights Society to his 
views, and, meeting with strong opposition, was induced to 
couch his language in such terms, as would most likely tend to 
gain him a favorable hearing. Mr. Francis appears to have 
been similarly situated ; hence the remote resemblance in the 
two passages, which could not well be avoided. 

The second parallel, I apprehend, was taken from a letter of 
Junius, signed Pophcola, and dated May 28, 1767. " But he 
rested his defence upon the unavoidable necessity of the case, 
apd submitted himself to the judgment of his country." 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. / i 

Mr. Francis seems to liave been very fond of this expression, 
having put it into the mouth of lord Chatham in the report of a 
speech of his in violation of fact, as will, by and by, be proved 
beyond all contradiction. 

Junius. — " But I shall not descend to a dispute about words, 
I speak to things." 

Francis. — " If this were a contest about words, and if things 
of the greatest moment were not at stake, &c." 

Junius. — " You have no enemies, Sir, but those who persuade 
you to aim at power without right, and who think it flattery to 
tell you that the character of king dissolves the natural relation 
between guilt and punishment." 

Francis. — " In the present practice, the wholesome relation 
between guilt and punishment is inverted." 

" Nor will I leave it to the master to dissolve the re- 
lation between his slave and himself, just whenever he pleases." 

Junius. — " Can any man in his senses affirm, that as things are 
now circumstanced in this country, it is possible to exterminate 
corruption ?" 

Francis. — " But does any man in his senses believe the state- 
ment to be true ?" 

Junius. — " Still you will find an insurmountable difficulty in 
the execution." 

Francis. — "The difficulties in the execution would still be 
insurmountable." 

There is a manner in the following passage, which belongs 
only to the present writers. 

Junius. — " Who attacks the liberty of the press ? lord Mans- 
field. — Who invades the constitutional power of juries ? lord 
Mansfield. — What judge ever challenged a juryman, but lord 
Mansfield, &c. ?" 

Francis. — *' But in the consideration of these offences, who is 
the offended party ? The negro-driver. — Who is the judge of 
the fact ? The driver. — Who awards the punishment ? The 
driver. — Who inflicts it ? The driver with his own hand." 

Junius. — " In the name of God and the laws, are such men fit 
to govern a great kingdom ''" 



V® CLAIMS or 

Francis. — "/« the name of common sense, wliat usei'ul purpose 
will her submission answer?" 

"/w the name of decency and common sense, what ai"e 

your grace's merits ?" 

Francis. — In the name of God and common sense, what have 
we gained by consulting these learned persons ?" 

" In the name of God and justice, &c." 

But perhaps the most singular instance of agreement, in the 
peculiar use of words, is to be found in the following quotations. 

Junius. — " As far as their history has been known, the son 
has regularly improved upon the vices of his father, and has taken 
care to transmit them pure and undiminished into the bosom of 
his successor." 

Francis. — " After all, mere precedents seldom amount to a 
satisfactory proof of right, especially in matters of government. 
Political societies have existed too long to leave any abuse with- 
out an example. We may improve upon the errors of our pre- 
decessors, but we cannot be original." 

" If I could personify the house of commons, it would 

be my interest as well as my duty to approach so great a person 
with the utmost respect. But respect does not exclude firmness^ 
and should not restrain me from saying, that is the function of 
your greatness, as well as of your office, to listen to truth^'' 

Junius, in his celebrated letter to the king, introduces his 
personal address to the monarch with the same remark. " He 
would deliver his sentiments with dignity and firmness, but not 
witliout respect. * * * I would prepare your mind for a favor- 
able reception of truth." 

The words in small capitals in the following extracts, are in 
Italics in the original : a circumstance which adds to their re- 
markable similarity. 

Junius. — " To say that they will not make this extravagant 
use of their power, would be a language unfit for a man so 
learned in the laws as you are. — By your doctrine. Sir, they 
have the power ; and laws, you know, are intended to guard 
against what men may do, not to trust to v)hat they will do." 

Francis. — " What they will do I know not, but this is what 
they »iAY do under the present institution." 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIis. 79 

Francis. — " The lords and commons who compose the present 
panel are honorable men. So are we all. But let it be re- 
membered that laws are made to guard against what men may 
do, not to trust to what tlieij will rfo." 

Junius. — " 1 cannot express my opinion of the present min- 
istry more exactly, than in the words of Sir Richard Steele : — 
that we are governed by a set of drivellers, whose folly takes 
away all dignity from distress, and makes even calamity ridi- 
culous.^^ 

Francis. — " Such authors of such ruin take away all dignity 
from distress, and make calamity ridiculous." 

Junius. — " Both minister and magistrate is compelled, in 
almost every instance, to choose between his duty and his repu- 
tation." 

Francis. — An open trial obliges the judge in every question 
that comes before him, to choose between his duty and the loss of 
his reputation." 

" The compiler of this investigation was accidentally turning 
over the pages of Almon's Anecdotes of lord Chatham, when 
his eye was caught by several passages so much in the style of 
Junius, as to call forth this observation — that either lord Chat- 
ham was the author of the letters,* or Junius had reported lord 
Chatham's speeches. On closer inspection it appeared, that the 
pages which contained the spirit of Junius were principally occu- 



* " If it were a question worth debating, we have the best of all proofs, that 
lord Chatham's peculiarities of thinking and expression, did not, of necessity, 
give a complexion to these speeches so much like that of Junius. It is well 
known that Hugh Boyd was ambitious of being thought the writer of the letters, 
and that he imitated the style of Junius. He, by a singular coincidence, also 
reported two of Lord Chatham's speeches in 1775, and 1777; and here, if any 
where, we might expect to find that character exhibited which is seen in the 
reports by Sir Philip Francis. But neither are they like the latter, nor like Junius. 
It is astonishing how totally they differ from both : something might be expected 
from lord Chatham's manner, and something from Boyd's habitual imitation of 
Junius ; but there is not a thought or expression in these speeches which savors 
either of Junius, or of lord Chatham as he is represented by Sir Philip Francis. 
The consequence is, that not only must lord Chatham have no credit for the lite- 
rary beauties in the reports of Sir Phihp Francis^, under the plea that the words 



Sd (JliAIMS OF 

pied by the reports of two debates, one on the 9th, the other on 
the 22d of January, 1770J; that the latter was the composition 
of a gentleman who had furnished Almon with the previous 
report ; and that a paragraph was prefixed to this first debate, 
containing allusions to the Reporter, apphcable, as we have 
before noticed, only to Sir Philip Francis. The reasons which 
led to that opinion have been stated ; cuid they were cogent 
enough for the purpose they were then intended to serve : but 
to build any thing substantial and important upon this ground, it is 
obvious that a better title ought to be produced. This has since 
been accidentally provided. — In the New Parliamentary History 
the above-mentioned speeches are inserted, and the following 
note by the editor accompanies the first of them : ' This very 
important debate was taken by a gentleman, who afterwards made 
a distinguished figure in the house of commons, and by him it 
lias been obligingly revised for this toork.' Wlien the publishers 
inquired of Mr. Wright, the editor of the debates, whether Sir 
Philip Francis was not the gentleman here alluded to, his an- 
swer was as satifactory as could be wished. ' In reply to your 
note, I have no hesitation in informing you that Sir Philip 
Francis is the gentleman alluded to in p. 647, vol. 16, of the Par- 



were so strongly impressed on the hearer's mind, that he unavoidably adopted 
them in repeating the sentiments, for then Hugh Boyd would have preserved 
some, at least, of these membra poetce, but also Boyd must be shorn of his preten- 
sions to be Junius, by failing on so remarkable an occasion to sustain any part of 
that character, which is so well supported by Sir Phihp. If the reader is desirous 
to obtain ocular demonstration of the truth of our representation, he will find 
Boyd's reports in the volume of Alraon's Anecdotes which contains those of Sir 
Philip Francis, whereby a most favourable opportunity is presented for making a 
comparison." 

In this case, it seems, that Sir Philip outwitted Mr. Boyd ; who neglected a 
most favorable opportunity to incorporate the writings of Junius into his reports 
of the speeches of lord Chatham. His competitor improved a similar occasion, 
and bore off the palm. It will appear, however, in the sequel, that Sir Philip's 
penchant for copying Junius, has in this instance led him into an embarrassment 
from which it will be difficult for his friends to extricate him ; and which Boj'd 
fortunately escaped by modestly using the language of the speaker in his reports. — 
,1nu Ed. 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS*. 



81 



lianientary History/ It was fortunate for the author of tliis 
investigation that the allusion here mentioned fell in his way ; 
he must otherwise have contented himself with the internal 
evidence of the speeches, for Almon, the original publisher, 
was dead, and all his papers were dispersed or destroyed. But 
Sir Philip Francis being thus proved to be the reporter, we have 
now only to inquire whether the speeches so reported were also 
the productions of Junius. To determine this question, atten- 
tion must be paid to their general character, to the remarkable 
expressions, and to the dates of each parallel passage. The 
better to assist the reader's judgment, such quotations will be 
incorporated with the text as particularly bear upon the passing 
subject. 

' The next session was opened on the ninth day of January, 
1770. The discontents which pervaded the whole nation, stimu- 
lated him (lord Chatham) to the most vigorous exertion of his ta- 
lents. He considered the conduct of the house of commons, on 
all the questions concerning the Middlesex election, as wholly un- 
constitutional. He attended on the first day. His speeches on 
that day have fortunately met with a better fate than many of 
his former speeches ; for they were accurately taken by a gen- 
tleman of strong memory, now a member of the house of com- 
mons, and from his notes they are here printed. 

THE EARL OF CHATHAM 

said, ' that he was satisfied there was a power in some degree 
arbitrary, with which the constitution trusted the crown, to be 
made use of under correction of the legislature, and at the Im- 
7.ard of the minister, upon any sudden emergency, or unforeseen 
calamity, which might threaten the welfare of the people, or 
the safety of the state. That on this principle he had himself 
advised a measure, which he knew was not strictly legal ; but 
he recommended it as a measure of necessity, to save a starving 
people from famine, and had submitted to the judgment of his 
country." 

Junius. — " That parliament may review the acts of a minister 
is unquestionable ; but there is a wide diflference between say- 
ing that the crown has a legal power, and that ministers nuiy 
act at tlieir peril" — " Instead of asserting that the proclamation 

1 1 



S^I CLAIMS OF 

was legal, he (lord Camden) should have said, ' My lords, 1 
know the proclamation was illegal, bnt I advised it because it 
was indispensably necessary to save the kingdom from famine, 
and I submit myself to the justice and mercy of my country.^ " — 
Oct. 15, 1771. 

This first parallel from the letters is nearly decisive of the 
fact that Junius was the reporter. Though written almost two 
years after the speech, it will be seen that not only the succes- 
sion of thought is the same, but even the expressions are pre- 
served sufficiently to show that the original was fresh in the 
memory of the writer. If he could have found the speech 
reported in other words, but the same in substance, the resem- 
blance might perhaps have been accounted for ; but in the ab- 
sence of all such aids, to approach so nearly to the language of 
a report not printed (though preserved in notes) till twenty 
years after, can only be satisfactorily explained on the suppo- 
sition that he who took those notes was himself the writer of 
the letters." * 

Junius, according to this account, was attending in the house 
of commons when the speech, from which the above is an 
extract, was made by lord Chatham ; and afterwards, in cen- 
suring lord Camden for the part he took in the debate, gives, as 
his own, the very words of Chatham as proper for Camden to 
have made use of. At a subsequent period he reports the 
speech, and thus exposes his own plagiarism. This, to say the 
least of it, was not a very judicious step on the part of Junius. 
But, although the speech was not reported at the time, were 
there not many spectators in the house, besides the members 
of parliament, who heard the speech delivered ? and would not 
Junius not only have feared detection, but scorned to copy the 
words of lord Chatham in this manner ? Would it not have been 
more honorable for him to have said, that lord Camden ought 
to have followed the example set by lord Chatham in this case ? 
However, after all, it so happened that lord Chatham took a 
very different ground, upon the occasion alluded to, from that 
here stated ; although it occurred four years before the time 
fixed upon by Sir Philip. Particular notice of which will be 



SIR PinUP FRANCIS. 83 

taken after making a few more extracts from these extraordi- 
nary parallel cases. 

Speech, — "He lamented the unhappy measure which had 
divided the colonies from the mother country, and which he 
feared had drawn them into excesses which he could not justify. 
He owned his natural partiality to America, and was inclined 
to make allowance ev^en for those excesses : that they ought 
to be treated with tenderness ; for in his sense they were ebul- 
litions of liberty which broke out upon the skin, and were a sign, 
if not of perfect health, at least of a vigorous constitution, and 
must not be driven in too suddenly, lest they should strike to the 
heart." 

Junius. — " No man regards an eruption upon the surface, when 
the noble parts are invaded, and he feels a mortification ap- 
proaching to his heartr 

^" I shall only say, give me a healthy vigorous constitu- 

lion, and I shall hardly consult my looking-glass to discover a 
blemish upon my skin." 

Speech. — " That the Americans had purchased their liberty 
at a dear rate, since they had quitted their native country, and 
gone in search of freedom to a desert." 

Junius, speaking of the Americans, says : " They left their 
native land in search of freedom, and found it in a desert." — 
Dec. 19, 1769. 

" In this instance the speech copies the letters. To suppose 
that lord Chatham and Junius reciprocally borrowed from each 
other, is to encounter a greater difficulty for the sake of avoid- 
ing a less. But the resemblance is not surprising, if we ima- 
gine that Junius was the reporter ; and as we proceed, it will 
appear that no other solution can be given for this mutual appli- 
cation of each other's sentiments and language." 

Speech. — " My lords, I am a plain man, and have been 
brought up in a religious reverence for the original simplicity of 
the laws of England." 

Junius on the same subject : — " Is this the law of parhament. 
or is it not ? / am a plain man, Sir, and cannot follow yon 
through the phlegmatical forms of an oration." 



84 CLAIMS OF 

The language here used may be excusable in an anonymous 
author, although it appears affected in so elegant a writer as 
Junius ; but for lord Chatham to have so expressed himself 
before the British parliament, one would think, must have sub- 
jected him to the most pointed ridicule. 

Perhaps not more than half the jK/raUel passages exhibited by 
Mr. Taylor, are here copied. The reader, however, will probably 
be satisfied with these samples. The marks of plagiarism are 
indelibly stamped upon almost every case produced ; and thus 
afford abundant proof that Mr. Francis was not the author of 
Junius's letters. His friends have destroyed his pretensions by 
their imprudence in making these comparisons. A political 
party writer may have occasion frequently to reiterate the same 
sentiments ; but, if a man of talents, will not repeat the same 
phi'ase verbatim ; at least this could not often occur. A soli- 
tary instance or two might happen, and would be excusable ; 
but such a string of passages in the productions of Mr. Francis, 
exactly similar to plu-ases in the letters of Junius, could not be 
the effect of chance. 

I shall now revert to the debate on the Corn Bill, which is 
alluded to in a previous extract from Sir Philip's speech made 
for lord Chatham, and compared with parallel expressions of 
Junius as a test of authorship. The debate on this subject took 
place on the 11th of November, 1766: and at no other time. 
I defy the friends of Sir Philip to produce a single instance of 
any similar debate, either before or after that period. I shall 
hereafter show how Sir Philip was deluded in fixing upon 1770 
for this discussion, which will completely unveil the fraud com- 
mitted by him in giving to lord Chatham the language of Junius 
in this case. 

Mr. Miller, in his History of Great Britain, from the death 
of George II. to the coronation of George IV.^ gives the fol- 
lowing account of this transaction : " In consequence of the 
great scarcity of provisions, the privy council, in the recess of 
parliament, Sept. 26, 1766, issued a proclamation, 'laying an 
embargo on the exportation of wheat and flour, and prohibiting 
the use of that grain in the distilleries.' Wheat had not yet 
reached the price under which it might be legally exported. No 



SIR PHILIP IRAACIS. 85 

authority, therefore, but that of the whole legislature, could in 
this case lay a constitutional embargo on it." 

" Therefore, on the meeting of parliament, on the 1 1th of 
November following, a bill was brought in 'to indemnify all 
persons who had acted in obedience to the order of council for 
laying on the embargo. Nobody denied the expediency of such 
a restraint at the time : it was the mode of the transaction 
which deserved censure, as, by it the crown seemed to assume 
and exercise a power of dispensing with the laws — one of the 
grievances so expressly provided against at the revolution.'" 
[Allusion is then made to the neglect of convening the parlia- 
ment sooner.] 

" The first form of the bill was found to be defective : it pro- 
vided for the indemnity of the inferior officers who had acted 
under the proclamation, while it passed by the council who ad- 
vised it ; and it had not a preamble fully expressive of the ille- 
gality of the measure. In these respects the bill was amended, 
and made perfect. But this produced much altercation : espe- 
cially in the house of lords, where to the astonishment of most 
people, the newly created earl of Chatham, and lord Camden, 
the chancellor, opposed the bill, and vindicated the late exertion 
of prerogative, not only from the peculiar circumstances that 
seemed to influence it, but as a matter of right, asserting, that a 
dispen'^'ng power, in cases of state necessity, was one of the 
prercgatives inherent in the crown. This desertion from the 
side of liberty, to principles so directly opposite, gave a mortal 
stab to the popularity of those occasional patriots. The fal- 
lacy of their pretexts, as well as of their reasonings, was ex- 
posed, and the cause of freedom and of the constitution was 
ably supported by lords Mansfield, Temple, and Lyttleton. 
The real motives for the late exertion of power were first 
inquired into, and then the doctrine of a dispensing power in 
such cases was very forcibly attacked." 

If Sir Philip Francis was Junius, his treacherous memory- 
has in this instance placed him in the most awkward and unplea- 
sant condition. In December, 1766, a writer in the Public Ad- 
vertiser, under the signature of W. D. — supposed by the editor 
to be William Draper — says, " What greater proof of wisdom 



86 



CLAIMS OF 



can he (lord Chatham) give, than in supporting that person who 
is the most capable of doing good to his country, and has, upon 
all occasions, approved himself the most zealous protector of 
its liberties ? But I beg pardon ; upon a late occasion indeed, 
lord Chatham showed himself to be no friend to liberty ; he 
was so very tyrannical, as well as lord Camden, that he denied 
some traders the right, liberty, and privilege of starving his fel- 
low-citizens, by exporting all the corn out of the kingdom, for 
which he has met with his reward, and been as much abused 
as if he himself had been guilty of starving them. Is there no 
Tarpeian rock for such a tyrant ?" 

To which Junius replied, under the signature of Poplicola, as 
follows : 

" Mr. C. D. (W. D.) wilfully misiepresents the cause of that 
censure, which was very justly thrown upon lord Chatham, when 
the exportation of corn was prohibited by proclamation. The 
measure itself was necessary, and the more necessary from the 
scandalous delay of the ministry in calling the parliament toge- 
ther ; but to maintain that the proclamation was legal, and that 
there was a suspending power lodged in the crown, was such 
an outrage to the common sense of mankind, and such a daring 
attack upon the constitution, as a free people ought never to 
forgive. The man, who maintained those doctrines, ought to 
have had the Tarpeian rock, or a gibbet for liis reward. Ano- 
ther gentleman, upon that occasion, had spirit and patriotism 
enough to declare, even in a respectable assembly, that when 
he advised the proclamation, he did it with the strongest con- 
viction of its being illegal ; but he rested his defence upon the 
imavoidable necessity of the case, and submitted himself to 
the judgment of his country. This noble conduct deserved the 
applause and gratitude of the nation, vi^hile that of the earl of 
Chatham, and his miserable understrappers, deserved nothing 
but detestation and contempt." 

Let the reader compare this language with the sycophantic 
eulogy of Mr. Francis on lord Chatham, and then say if he 
thinks Sir Philip could have been the author of the letters 
of Junius. 

Sir Philip's error on this subject. I presume, arose from the 



SIR PHILIP FRAXCIS. 87 

remarks of Junius, in his letter of Oct. 5, 1771 ; with which, 
it is said in Woodfall's Prehminary Essay, he intended to close 
" the regular series of letters possessing the signature of Junius." 
This letter treats upon "the unhappy divisions," as he calls 
them, " which had arisen among the friends of the people, and 
divided them from each other." In which he says, " When 
lord Chatham affirms, that the authority of the British legisla- 
ture is not supreme over the colonies, in the same sense in which 
it is supreme over Great Britain ; when lord Camden supposes 
a necessity (which the king is to judge of,) and founded upon 
that necessity, attributes to the crown a legal power (not given 
by the act itself,) to suspend the operation of an act of the 
legislature ; I listen to them both with diffidence and respect, 
but without the smallest degree of conviction or assent. Yet I 
doubt not they delivered their real sentiments, nor ought they 
to be hastily condemned." 

And adds, " When I refer to signal instances of unpopular 
opinions, delivered and maintained by men, who may well be 
supposed to have no view but the public good, I do not mean 
to renew the discussion of such opinions. I should be sorry to 
revive the dormant questions of Stamp Act, Corn Bill, or Press 
Warrant. I mean only to illustrate oniB useful proposition, 
which it is the intention of this paper to inculcate, ' That we 
should not generally reject the friendship or services of any 
man, because he differs from us in a particular opinion.' This 
will not appear a superfluous caution, if we observe the ordi- 
nary conduct of mankind. In public affairs, there is the least 
chance of a perfect concurrence of sentiment or inclination : 
yet every man is able to contribute sometliing to the common 
stock, and no man's contribution should be rejected." 

This letter brought forward a writer under the signature of 
Scoevola in vindication of the course taken by lord Camden ; 
which necessarily required a replication from Junius, in support 
of the doctrine he had advanced ; in which he gives his opinion 
of what lord Camden ought to have said upon the occasion, and 
in nearly the same language as he had stated " another gentle- 
man" (a member of the council) had expressed himself. 

The style of this " gentleman," as reported by Junius, Mr. 



88 



(JLAisis or 



Francis has borrowed to ornament the speecli ot lord Chathanj, 
Which can be accounted for only upon the supposition of his 
having taken notes of the expressions at the time of their pub- 
lication, and afterwards forgetting their context. For it appears 
evident from the numerous passages of Junius scattered through- 
out his writings, that Sir Philip kept an Album, in which he 
entered favorite sentiments and expressions to be applied as 
occasions should offer. 

The incidental notice of the Corn Bill by Junius in Oct. 
1771, no doubt deluded Sir Philip into the opinion that the de- 
bate upon it occurred at the previous fall session of the parlia- 
ment ; and as the remarks were confined entirely to lord Cam- 
den, (he having before taken sufficient notice of lord Chatham 
in this respect,) Mr. Francis probably concluded that something 
like the declarations alluded to were made by Chatham, and 
consequently that a good opportunity now offered to compli- 
ment his lordship with one of his " Elegant Extracts" applicable 
to the case. 

This gentleman, according to Junius, said, "that when he 
advised the procla?nation, he did it with the strongest conviction 
of its being illegal ; but he rested his defence upon the una- 
voidable necessity of the case, and submitted himself to the judg- 
ment of his country." 

Sir Philip makes lord Chatham say, " That on this principle 
he had himself advised a measure which he knew was not strictly 
legal ; but he recommended it as a measure of necessity, to save 
a stai'ving people from famine, and had submitted to the judg- 
ment of his country." 

After this exposure, what confidence can be placed in Sir 
Phihp Francis's reports of lord Chatham's speeches, made 
twenty years after their delivery, and in such strict accordance 
with the language of Junius ? Had not Sir Philip his album or 
a copy of Junius before him when he made these reports, as 
well as when he prepared his own speeches and pamphlets for 
publication ? 

I shall close the remarks on Sir Philip Francis by quoting the 
opinions of several gentlemen in regard to his claims to the 
authorship of Junius. 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. 89 

Mr. Barker, (see p. 503) after introducing a quotation t'rom 
Sir Philip's letter to lord Holland, says, " I consulted my intelli- 
gent and esteemed friend, the Rev. T. S. Hughes, B. D., on the 
subject, and he favored me with the follow^ing observations in 
his reply : — 

* With respect to the work in toto, it appears to me very like 
the effort of a man who did not write Junius, but wished it to 
be thought he did. It is clever, and has many pointed passages, 
but not the raciness of Junius's style.' " 

Dr. Parr, speaking of Sir Philip, (see Barker, p. 242,) says, 
" He was too vain to refuse celebrity, which he was conscious 

of deserving. It was not in his nature to keep a secret — 

he would have told it from his vanity. 

His bitterness, his vivacity, his acuteness, are stamped in cha- 
racters very peculiar, upon many publications that beai' his 
name ; and very faint indeed is their resemblance to the spirit, 
and, in an extended sense of the word, to the style of Junius." 

Mr. Barker, in his Preface, p. 4, introduces Dr. Good's opinion 
as follows : 

"A few weeks before the decease of Dr. John Mason Good, 
who was the editor of Woodfall's edition of Junius's letters, and 
the writer of the Preliminary Essay, which is contained in it, 
the author received from the doctor the following note : 

' Guildford-street, Oct. 13, 1826. 

' Dear Sir, — Accept my thanks for your obliging copy of your 
first letter on the subject of Junius and Sir Philip Francis. 

Many years ago, as perhaps you may be aware, I entered at 
full speed into this research, and beat the bush in every direc- 
tion. At that time, however, the claims of Sir Philip Francis 
had not been advanced, at least not before the public. But, 
had they been brought forward, the arguments, by which it is 
obvious they may be met, and many of which you have your- 
self ably handled, would, I think, have succeeded in putting him 
as completely out of the list as all the other competitors appear 
to be put, whose friends have undertaken to bring them for- 
ward. 

The question is, nevertheless, one of great interest, as well 

12 



90 CLAIMS eF 

on the score of national history, as of hterary curiosity. Yet^ 

hke many other desiderata, I am afraid it is Hkely to lie beyond 

the fathoming of any line and plummet, that will be applied to 

it in our days. 

I shall always be happy to hear of your success, and am, 

dear Sir, faithfully yours, 

J. M. Good. 

' To E. H. Barker, Esq.' 

The reader will observe, in the above letter of Dr. J. M. G., 
his indirect acknowledgment of the authorship of the Prelimi- 
nary Essay in Woodfall's edition of Junius, and therefore the 
contents of the letter merit preservation." 

Dr. Good, although he might be satisfied himself on the sub- 
ject, intended, probably, only to express his opinion that Junius 
would not be publicly known " in our days." 

Dr. Parr, in one of his letters respecting Junius, (see Barker, 
p. 243,) very justly observed, that " it was the wish if not the 
duty of Woodfall to keep us in the dark." 

This remark will apply with equal propriety to Dr. Good ; 
who, being employed to write the Preliminary Essay, if the 
secret had been communicated to him, was in honor bound, as 
before observed, not to divulge it. 

Extract of a Letter from Mr. Barker to the Rev. Dr. Martin 

Davy. 

" Sir Philip Francis published, or there appeared from his 
pen without his name, a small pamphlet, entitled Historical 
Questions, in Jan. 1818, and admitted to be his composition- 
The writer says : ' I mention it now for the purpose of doing 
justice to the German nation, knowing them as I do, to be gene- 
rous, honorable, brave, and hardened people. I am sure that 
whenever they are mentioned by Sir Philip Francis, (in his let- 
ter to lord Holland, and elsewhere,) or any other man of com- 
mon sense or common honesty, in doubtful terms, such terms 
can only relate to their military governments, and not at all to 
themselves.' 

I would have the reader consider whether the little, however 
pardonable, vanity of referring to himself by name, as Sir Philip 



SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. 9] 

Francis does in the anonymous pamphlet, is not more chai'ac- 
teristic of himself than of the high-minded and proud Junius ?" 

Extract of a letter from Mr. Coventry to Mr. Barker, dated 
June 14, 1828. 

" I wrote the other sheet a few days since, which I intended 
to complete and forward, but waited to see Mr. Woodfall, if 
possible, in which I have succeeded. I breakfasted with liim 
yesterday-morning at Westminster. He presents Ms compli- 
ments, and requested me to forward the anecdote about Francis, 
if of any use. You are doubtless aware that his father and 
Francis were schoolfellows — educated at St. Paul's School. 
In after-years they generally attended the anniversary dinners. 
On one of those occasions, on Mr. Woodfall's returning home, 
he met an intimate friend, who said — ' I met you and Junius, 
going to the Pauline Festival.' ' To whom do you allude V 
rephed Mr. Woodfall. ' Francis, to be sure, there is no other 
Junius.' ' To my certain knowledge,' replied Mr. Woodfall, 
' Francis had no more to do with Junius than either you or !.• 
The gentleman was quite satisfied with Mr. Woodfall's positive 
denial, and wished him good evening. Mr. Woodfall informed 
me that there were many reasons why Francis had no hand in the 
letters — his father knew him sO well— his capabilities — his con- 
fined situation — the sphere which he moved in, as well as the 
risk that he would run in being thrown upon the world neglected 
— all concurred, to cause Mr. Woodfall to know that the motto, 
^tat nominis umhra, would never be solved in the son of Dr. 
Francis." 

Extract of a Letter from Mr. Barker to U. Price, Esq. 

" It may be aflfirmed beyond all contradiction, and I particu- 
larly invite the attention of the reader to the importance and 
the novelty of the observation, because it is decisive against the 
claims of Sir Philip Francis and of several other persons, that 
the author could not have had leisure for any other pursuit or 
any other business, while he was engaged in writting those 
letters — he must have lived in the retirement of his own presence, 
confining his society, when he could admit society, chiefly to 



92 CLAIMS ©F 

those few individuals, who furnished him with tacts, and inci- 
dents, and circumstances, or in any way favoured his views and 
facihtated his labours. In solitary majesty, in oriental seclu- 
sion, in the realm of silence, and in the land of oblivion, he 
was ' left at large to his own dark designs.' " 

Extract of a Letter from Mr. Barker to Charles Butler, Esq. 
Thetford, Oct. 17, 1826. 

'•It is quite contrary to all sound principles of reason- 
ing — to all just views of human nature — to all the repeated 
lessons of experience — and to all the fair limits of rational 
belief — to suppose that Sir Philip Francis, when he was 
twenty-seven years of age, (i. e. ' when the first of the miscel- 
laneous letters, being the earliest of the known productions of 
Junius, made its appearance,') should, though a mere clerk in 
the war-office, have ventured to enter into public political dis- 
cussion at all — that he should have either overlooked or despised 
the danger of the attempt — that he should have thrown so seri- 
ous an obstacle in the way of his advancement, should he be 
detected — that he, instead of promoting the wishes of his em- 
ployers, instead of aiding the views of the government, of which 
he formed a part however subordinate, instead of sympathising 
with all around him as bound by the common tie of interest, 
should have laboured with the most vigilant energy to effect 
such purposes as were inconsistent with his situation, opposed 
to his progress in life, and calculated to subvert alike the influ- 
ence of his patrons and the power of the Ministry, — that he, a 
mere clerk in the war-office, should have commenced his lite- 
rary career by a series of papers perfect in their style of com- 
position, and his political career by professing those high public 
principles, which belong only to the tongues or the pens of men, 
who have been for a series of years running their course of 
usefulness and of fame, — that he should have denounced the 
conduct of the ministry in the severest terms with the apparent 
skill of an experienced rhetorician, the exact knowledge of an 
able statesman, the lofty tone of an independent spirit, the per- 
severing zeal of a disinterested patriot, and a Demosthenic 
vehemence of diction unparalleled in the history of human elo- 



filK PHILIP FRANCI!-. 93 

quence. If Sir Philip Francis did in such circumstances write 
the letters of Junius, then the history of the world itself has 
exhibited no similar or second instance of this sort, the phe- 
nomenon cannot be explained by all the philosophy of the 
human mind, and nothing is too little or too great for human 
credulity." 



CHAPTER VI. 

Claims of Charles Lloyd to the Autliorship of Junius's Letters. 

The pretensions of Charles Lloyd to the authorship of Junius 
have been lately revived, and supported with considerable zeal 
by Mr. Barker, upon the principle, it would seem, of making a 
choice of evils from among the absurdities that lay before him. 
The inquirers after Junius, being diverted by the artifice of the 
author from the direct path to the attainment of the object, have 
been, ab initio, groping in darkness. 

Although Mr. Barker gives the decided preference to Lloyd, 
he candidly details the opinions of various literary characters 
with whom he corresponded, as well against as in favor of his 
candidate. I will give a very short abstract of the ground 
taken, principally in opposition to his views. 

" London, Nov. 5, 1827, 

" Mr. Moysey is very sorry he has it not in his power to satisfy 
Mr. Barker's inquiries. Mr. Charles Lloyd was his senior [at 
Westminster school] many years ; their acquaintance not one 
of intimacy or of long duration. Since 1766, or thereabouts, 
Mr. M. knows nothing of Mr. Lloyd, either alive or dead. He 
can only say that his temper was very cheerful, far removed from 
reserved or morose habits ; and as to faculties, he was a man 
of very lively parts, and a great deal of wit. He was called 
by his school-fellows, Dolly Lloyd, for reasons which do not 
appear. He was younger brother of the dean of Norwich, an 
eminent character. But Mr. M. cannot recollect anv of his 



94 CLAIMS OF 

/ 

cotemporaries now surviving, and grieves he can be of no 
further use." 

From another Cor7'espondent. 

" You are, I think, right in ascribing the letters of Junius to 
Mr. Charles Lloyd, private secretary to Mr. George Grenville, 
and afterwards in the same capacity to lord North. I have 
more than once conversed with a gentleman, who was in the 
same ofdce with Lloyd, and knew him personally, and well. 
He had a great predilection for chemistry, from which science 
Junius has borrowed expressions which enrich his style. He 
was a great oddity in his wardrobe ; — fond of walking in the 
streets unveiled, and generally with a pen behind his ear ; — his 
gait was usually hurried and rapid ; — he was evidently a young 
man, when he addressed his first letter to lord H. under the 
name of Lucius. Now, my dear Sir, apply these traits to a 
gentleman, who stepped into old Woodfall's office early in the 
day, and chucked up to the person sitting at a lofty desk a MS. 
written in lai'ge characters, which he had brought squeezed in his 
fist into the shape of a ball, and the pursuit after him down the 
Strand, — and his disappearance in the neighborhood of Charing 
Cross — which have either been stated to me or I have read in some 
pamphlet of the day, — and the person which you have selected, 
will, I think, easily be recognised. He made no reply to Dr. 
Johnson's pamphlet on the Falkland Islands ; he was at that 
time setting out for Aix-la-Chapelle ; — after his death no more 
letters appeared." 

The last writer one would hardly think serious. At any rate, 
the character he describes appears more like the mere bearer 
of despatches, than the writer of Junius. 

From the Literary Memoirs of J. Cradock, Esq. 

" Lloyd, the secretary of G. Grenville, (if we recollect rightly,) 
has been frequently mentioned by Parr, Home Tooke, &c. as 
the Junius ; but we are assured that Junius's last letter to Wood- 
fall was dated only two days before Lloyd's death, under cir- 



CHARLES LLOYD. 95 

cumstances which make it impossible that he could have been 
the correspondent." 

From the Literary Gazette, Jan. 12, 1828. 

" I do not recollect to have heard that Ilorne Tooke was a 
believer in the authorsliip of Charles Lloyd ; from Mr. Blake- 
way's two pamphlets it appears that he encouraged the notion 
that the letters were written by himself. There is a mention 
of Home Tooke's opinions in Mr. Roche's Inquiry ; but at the 
present time I have not access to the book." 

Lloyd, agreeably to the old adage, could " tell no tales," there- 
fore he was a safe person for Tooke to fix upon as Junius ; but 
in conversation on this subject he might have discovered signs 
of guilt, which may have led Mr. Blakeway to form the opinion 
he did. 

Extract of a Letter from George Coventry, Dec. 29, 1827. 

" Though I have already stated my belief and conviction that 
Lloyd was, though not the author, a party concerned either as 
amanuensis, or bearer of intelligence to Junius, or as ' the con- 
veyancer of the letters,' yet I am not prepared to contend that 
he was the sole person employed in these three capacities, and 
therefore his temporary absence on the continent during the 
reign of Junius, if the fact were established beyond doubt, 
would not affect the truth or the probability of my supposition ; 
but his entire residence in France during the whole period, 
would, certainly, if it could be proved, be decisive on the sub- 
ject." 

" The five following letters, addressed to me (Mr. Barker) by 
a most eloquent, sagacious, and intelligent friend, will, I doubt 
not, be read with the hveliest interest." 

These letters were from a Dr. R. Fellowes, of which the fol- 
lowing are extracts : 

" Feb. 1, 1827. 

My dear Sir, — ***** « j [^a.ve often heard Dr. Parr 
speak with great confidence of Charles Lloyd as the author of 
the letters. Temerity was not usually a characteristic of the 



96 CLAIMS OP 

Doctor's judonient in such matters ; but in adjudicating the let- 
ters to Lloyd, he never appeared to me to have examined the 
subject with his usual caution, or to have estimated its proba- 
bilities or different sides with his accustomed impartiality and 
discrimination. I never heard him adduce a more satisfactory 
reason for his opinion, that Charles Lloyd was the author of the 
letters, than the change which he remarked in the countenance 
of his brother, the dean of Norwich, when the doctor distinctly 
avowed his belief, that that brother had the merit of these con- 
tested compositions. There was a sudden transition in the 
dean's countenance, from that of much complacency in the 
supposition, to that of what the doctor supposed, very sensitive 
alarm about the consequences." 

"March 7, 1827. 

My dear Sir, — I think you do quite right to clear the ground 
from the pretensions of other candidates for the authorship of 
Junius's letters, before you endeavor to establish those of Charles 
Lloyd. I think that you have completely and satisfactorily de- 
molished the claims of Sir Philip Francis. I saw Sir Philip 
Francis's library not long after his death. I looked very 
anxiously for a copy of Junius's letters, and at last found one 
of the most recent editions of that work with a few annotations 
in pencil, but of a very common-place kind, and not very likely 
to have been written by the auto-Junius. Whatever may be 
the verity of Charles Lloyd's pre tensions, you will not find many 
willing to allow them, unless you can produce specimens of 
equal ability in thought and diction in some of his undoubted 
compositions." 

"May 6, 1827. 

Dear Sir, — I have been indisposed myself, and have had a 
great deal of sickness in my family, since I had the pleasure of 
receiving your favour of the 25th of March. I think you will 
find your hypothesis that Lloj d was Junius, encumbered with 
many embarrassing considerations, if not some insurmountable 
obstacles. Almon might be a very incompetent judge of Lloyd's 
literary abilities ; but, as he knew him personally, and was ac- 
quainted with several of his friends and companions, he could 
not well err in the account, which he has given of the state of 



CHARLES LLOYD. 



9" 



his health. Now, if we may credit Alnion, Lloyd's iiealth was 
in a declining state at the fii'st appearance of the letters under 
the signature of Junius. But did not the letters of Junius, dur- 
ing the considerable intei'val, in which they followed each other 
in rapid succession, require the constant exercise of a degree 
ef intellectual vigor and activity, which is seldom found in con- 
junction with a decay of the corporeal functions, and a depres- 
sion of the vital powers ? Though Junius wrote under a 
concealed name, yet he must have felt in perpetual peril of 
detection. And no timid man would readily have exposed 
himself to so much scrutinizing malignity, or have endangered 
his personal security by provoking such bitter hate, and incur- 
ring such implacable hostility. If Lloyd was Junius, Junius 
was indeed a prodigy ; for he was not only brave and enter- 
prising, but laborious and indefatigable under the languors of dis- 
ease, and the approach of death. 

If the Grenvilles are really in possession of the secret, they 
had very strong reasons for not divulging it during the last 
reign ; or at least as long as the king possessed his consciousness, 
and retained his recollection. But these reasons no longer 
exist. What was once a question of internecine combat, is 
now one of pure curiosity. 

George Grenville himself could not have been the author of 
the letters. The sentiment and the diction were above his 
reach. He had httle illumination of mind, and no ' command 
of style. But he had one or two very able men about him 
besides Lloyd. He might have furnished the writer with some 
of his materials, or have infused a portion of his own rancor 
against adversaries and rivals, — against the king on the throne, 
and the duke of Grafton in the cabinet." 

"July 9, 1827. 

Dear Sir, — I have delayed longer than I ought, and much 
longer than I intended, to notice the books which you were so 
obliging as to send, and to answer your two favours of the 25th 
of May and the 16th of June. But during my stay in the 
country, I have been a good deal occupied with other matters, 
and besides, the consideration of my health induces me to 
spend as much time as I can in the open air. 

13 



\)h CLAIMS OF 

I have glanced over all the pamphlets, and have read the twcj 
that were w^ritten by Lloyd. They appear to me to furnish 
very cogent proof that he w^as not the author of the letters 
under the name of Junius. 

In Lloyd's Anatomy of a late Negociation, printed in 1763, 
there are no indications of a superior mind, either in the thoughts 
or diction. It is the mere common-place of an ordinary 
intellect. The pamphlet entitled An Examination, &c., which 
was written three years after the former, does not exhibit any 
proofs of a mind in progress, gradually enlarging its powers, 
multiplying its stock of ideas, — invigorating its sentiments, and 
improving its style. If Lloyd had been a young man at the 
time these two pamphlets were written, the perusal could never 
have induced a critic to presage that he would ever attain to 
any of that force and brilliancy of style, that is so visible in the 
compositions of Junius. The pamphlets are flat and jejune, 
sterile in sentiment, and feeble in diction. I cannot discern the 
workings of a strong, or the richness of a full mind. There 
is no luxuriance, that might be pruned into beauty, — no expan- 
sion, that might be compressed into force. 

You must, moreover, reflect that at the period, when those 
pamphlets were written, Lloyd was no longer a young man, 
and he was, besides, ' in an infirm state of health,' as he himself 
tells us, p. 5, and which according to the testimony of Almon, 
continued till his death. 

There does not, therefore, appear to me a particle of proof 
or even the most minute probability, in favor of the claim of 
Lloyd to the authorship of tiie letters under the signature of 
Junius. 

I had once hoped that a better case might be made out for 
T. Whately, another of George Grenville's literary auxiharies. 
Whately was a man of superior abilities, was a better scho- 
lar, a more elegant as well as energetic writer, a more profound 
politician, in the most comprehensive sense of the word, than 
Lloyd. But Whately died in June 1772." 

"Aug. 16, 1827. 

My dear Sir, — I return the four volumes of tracts you so 
obligingly sent for my perusal. I am now more than ever per- 



CHARLES LLOYD. ^U 

plexed about the authorship of Junius. I cannot even hazard 
a guess upon the subject. I am indeed perplexed in what seems 
an inextricable labyrinth. I am convinced that neither Lloyd 
nor Whately were the authors of these far-famed compositions. 
If the letters were concocted in the cabinet of the Grenvilles, 
they might have been, in a greater or less degree, auxiliaries ; 
but two or three subordinate understandings cannot make one 
master-mind. In intellectual operations, numbers do not con- 
stitute strength. There may be numerous forces in the field ; 
but it is one presiding mind that marshals the host, and gains 
the victory. Junius might have subalterns to assist ; but he was 
alone and unrivalled in the execution. He is, however, still 
like the man in the Iron Mask, a problem that has employed the 
wits of more than half a century in the solution. If Lloyd 
alone, or Lloyd and Whately were in any degree accessories 
to the work, it must be remembered that they both died too 
early to make it prudent or safe for them to disclose what they 
knew. If the Grenvilles were in the secret, they had very mo- 
mentous reasons to prevent them from divulging it during the 
last reign. Even at present they may feel a repugnance in 
having it known, that they, in the person of their ancestor, if I 
may so speak, were accomplices in laying bare to the vulgar 
scorn the hypocritical interior of sceptered Majesty, and in 
teaching the multitude to think and to speak contemptuously of 
kings." 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE; 



M E M O I R S 



ALEXANDER STEPHEN S, ESQ. 



103 



CHAPTER VII. 

SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF JOHN HORNE TOOKE, 

FROM 1736 TO 1765. 



Of the Birth and Family of Mr. Home — His Education and 
early Views — He obtains the Living of Brentford — First 
Journey to France. 

John Horne, better known of late years by the appellation 
of John Horne Tooke, was the son of a poulterer in New 
Market. He was bom in Westminster, on the 25th of June, 
1736. 

Mr. Horne, the father, whose name also was John, had a 
large family. Benjamin, the eldest son, settled at Brentford, in 
the county of Middlesex, where he acquired considerable 
wealth and eminence as a market-gardener, in what is techni- 
cally termed the fruit line. It was he who first introduced the 
pine-strawberry, from Saratoga, in North America, through the 
kind intervention of the earl of Shelburne, afterwards created 
marquis of Lansdowne. That nobleman, being greatly addicted 
to horticulture before he entered on the career of politics, and 
finding him an ingenious man, delighted in his conversation, and 
slept frequently at his house. 

Mary, the eldest daughter, married a wine-merchant in Ar- 
gyle-street, familiarly known among his acquaintance by the 
appellation of " honest Tom Wildman ;" he is frequently noticed 
in Mr. Wilkes's letters. 

Sarah, who is still alive, married the late Dr. Demainbray, 
who formerly occupied an honorable and confidential situation 
about the person of the present king ; assisted in his majesty's 
education, and was always treated with particular attention. 
He enjoyed a place in the custom-house, of 1,500Z. per annum ; 
and his son, the Rev. Stephen Demainbray, has for many years 
i^niperintended the Royal Observatory at Kew, 



104 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

Notwithstanding the elder Mr. Home reared and educated a 
family of seven children, he found means to acquire a consi- 
derable fortune, at the same time that he obtained a fair and 
honorable character for himself 

The following anecdote ought not to be omitted in this place, 
as it is not refining too much, perhaps, to suggest, that the 
spirited conduct of the father, in this particular instance, might 
have made an early and lasting impression on the mind of the 
son. 

As Mr. Home lived in Newport-street, he was of course a 
near neighbor to his royal highness Frederick prince of Wales, 
father to his present majesty, who then kept his court at Leices- 
ter house. Some of the officers of the household imagining 
that an outlet towards the market would be extremely conve- 
nient to them, as well as the inferior domestics, orders were 
immediately issued for that purpose. Accordingly, an adjoin- 
ing wall was cut through, and a door placed in the opening, 
without any ceremony whatsoever, notwithstanding it was a pal- 
pable encroachment on, and violation of, the property of a private 
individual. In the midst of this operation Mr. Horne appeared, 
and calmly remonstrated against so glaring an act of injustice, 
as the brick partition actually appertained to liim, and the intend- 
ed thoroughfare would lead through, and consequently depre- 
ciate the value of his premises. 

It soon appeared, however, that the representations of a 
dealer in geese and turkies, although backed by law and reason, 
had but little effect on those, who acted in the name, and under 
the authority of a prince. 

On this, he appealed from " the insolence of office" to the 
justice of his country, and triumphed over the heir-apparent of 
the English crown, and orders were soon after issued for the 
removal of the obnoxious door. 

On this, the plaintiff, who had been only anxious to vindicate 
his own insulted rights, immediately addressed a most respectful 
letter to the defendant in the late action, in which, after briefly 
recapitulating the facts, he stated that he had been actually 
forced into the suit by the improper conduct of his royal liigh- 
ness's servants, and that, having now tapght them to respect 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 105 

private property, he was only solicitous, that no inconvenience 
might arise to the son of his sovereign ; and therefore granted 
his leave for re-opening the disputed passage. 

The prince was so much pleased with Mr. Home's conduct 
on this occasion, that a warrant was immediately issued, empow- 
ering him to supply his royal highness with poultry, and he 
accordingly acted for many years as purveyor to the household. 
It is extremely painful to add, that this did not prove a profita- 
ble adventure ; for, by the sudden demise of the heir-apparent, 
and the disorder of his finances in consequence of that melan- 
choly event, a considerable arrear of debt accrued, which, at 
this day amounts, including the interest, to several thousand 
pounds. 

Meanwhile John, the youngest and darling son, became the 
chief object of attention in the family. It appears from a pa- 
per originally written by himself, and now in my possession, 
that in 1743, being then in the seventh year of his age, he was 
sent to an academy in Soho-square. 

In 1744 he was removed to Westminster school, but remained 
too short a time there to distinguish himself ; for after the lapse 
of two years he repaired to Eton. 

It was about tliis time that he lost the sight of his right eye, a 
defect which, although visible for some years after, yet became 
wholly imperceptible after he had attained the age of manhood. 
This accident occurred during a struggle with some unlucky 
boy, who happened to have a knife in his hand, the point of 
which unhappily entered and lacerated that fine and delicate 
organ. 

It was either during his convalescence, or in the interval of 
a vacation, that a little adventure, communicated to me by his 
nephew, occurred, which appeared to evince that the future 
Grammarian was developed at an early epoch. Having been 
sent, when no more than ten years of age, for a few weeks to 
school, at a village in Kent, the boy was so much displeased at 
his reception, entertainment, or pursuits, that he determined to 
return home as soon as possible, notwitlistanding the dis- 
tance was at least twenty-five miles. To prevent suspicion, 
he left the house without his hat, and took the road leading to 

14 



106 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

the capital. On tinding himself closely pursued by the peda- 
gogue, and all his scholars, the truant took refuge in a summer- 
house belonging to some gentleman in the neighborhood, and, 
notwithstanding an early and unconquerable aversion to spi- 
ders, such was his resolution even at this period of his life, that 
he actually clambered up the chimney, where he concealed him- 
self for some time, notwithstanding the strictest search on the 
part of the master ; for his companions, who knew where he 
lurked, were determined, from a point of honour, not to disco- 
ver him. 

Having thus baffled his pursuer, the young adventurer once 
more reached the highway, and, without either covering to his 
head, or money in his pocket, made directly for London, amidst 
a severe shower of rain. 

Towards the evening, while crossing a common, he was over- 
taken by a peasant, who, compassionating his forlorn situation, 
immediately carried him home, and gave him shelter in his cot- 
tage ; while his wife, perceiving his clothes drenched with wet, 
lent him a clean shirt belonging to one of her children, and 
placed his own to dry by the fire. 

After receiving some homely but wholesome fare, he was 
put to bed ; early next morning, this kind-hearted female pre- 
pared a breakfast for him ; and a neighboring gardener was 
easily prevailed upon by the joint entreaties of this worthy pair, 
to carry him on the top of his waggon to town. While stopping 
to refresh the horses at a little hedge-alehouse, he heard some 
passengers describing '• a little wicked boy, with a cast of his 
eye, who had run away during the preceding day from the 
boarding-school of the worthy Mr. ****." No sooner did this 
very accurate description of himself reach his ear, than he im- 
mediately slunk into his straw, and never once held up his head? 
until he found himself in Covent Garden market ! 

Perceiving he was so near home, he immediately repaired 
thither, and presented himself before his astonished parents, 
who had been given to understand, but a few days before, that 
lie was making the most rapid improvement in his education ; 
and of course fancied that he was both content and comforta- 
ble. On being sternly interrogated by his oifended father, as 



JOHN HORNE TOOKtI. lOT 

to the cause of his elopement, he archly observed, " that iiin 
master was utterly unfit to instruct him ; for although he might 
perhaps know what a noun or a verb was, yet he understood 
nothing about a preposition or conjunction ; and so, finding him 
an ignorant fellow, he had contrived to leave liim !" 

It may not be unpleasant for the reader here to learn, that, a 
few years after, when this runaway had become a man, he 
unexpectedly received a visit from the poor woman who had 
administered to his comforts in his way to town, and, finding 
her situation far from being comfortable, he presented her with 
a sum of money, to relieve her immediate necessities, promising 
at the same time to make a more permanent provision. It will 
be seen, in the sequel, that he faithfully fulfilled this pledge, and 
that too at a period when his mind was distracted with care, 
and his finances not in the most flourishing condition. 

While at Westminster and Eton, he was of course accus- 
tomed to associate occasionally with the sons of people of dis- 
tinction; and being aware of the ridicule too generally attached to 
a humble origin, he found means to spare himself from all mor- 
tifications of this kind, by calling in either his wit or invention 
to his aid. Once, while a few idle boys, who had formed them- 
selves into a circle, were interrogating each other about the 
rank and condition of their respective parents ; one said he was 
the son of Sir Robert A — ; the next, that his father was the 
earl of B — ; and the third, that his grandmother was the 
duchess of C — ; when it came to young Home's turn, he ob- 
served, " that he could not boast of any titles in his family ;" 
and on being more closely pressed, added with a well-aflTected 
reluctance, " that his father was an eminent Turkey merchant T 
This reply was both conclusive and satisfactory, for, at the 
period alluded to, England enjoyed a large share of the Levant 
trade, and a Turkey merchant was but another name for credit 
and opulence. 

And here let me add the unequivocal testimony of a contem- 
porary to his early promise. On interrogating an old lady, 
with a view of discovering if any thing remarkable had occurred 
during his childhood, I happened to ask, "whether she remem- 
bered Mr. Home Tooke while a bov ?" 



108 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

'' No !"' was the reply, " he never was a boy ; with him there 
was no interval between childhood and age ; he became a man 
all at once upon us !" 

Some little difficulties occur about this period, and materials 
are wanting to fill up the chasm of two or three years. In the 
brief manuscript memoir of his own life, alluded to before, 
under the date of 1753, is to be foimd, " Seven Oakes, Kent, 

a private tutor ;" and in 1754 we discover the following 

entry, immediately subsequent, "Ravenstone, Northampton- 
shire, do." which seems to imply, not only that great and 

unusual care was taken with his education, but that no expense 
was spared in rendering him duly qualified for any profession 
whatsoever. 

At the age of nineteen, it was determined to send him to 
one of the universities, and accordingly, in 1755, he was entered 
of St. John's college, Cambridge. It would appear that he 
now applied sedulously to business, for he commenced bachelor 
of arts three years after, and one of those who obtained the 
honors of the day ; his name being included among the Tri- 
poses of the year 1758. 

At length, Mr. John Home, who had hitherto been studying 
under the inspection of others, became a teacher himself; 
although it is difficult to conceive by what sudden caprice of 
fortune, a cantab, who had been placed under two private 
tutors in succession, and had distinguished himself among the 
worthies of his college, should all of a sudden have become an 
usher at a boarding-school. Certain it is, however, that he 
acted for some time in this humble capacity at Blackheath, first 
with a Mr. Jennings, and afterwards, on his retreat, with his 
son-in-law, Mr. Williams. 

Yet, on the other hand, from early life, he appears to have 
been veiy fond of instructing others, and to have paid particu- 
lar attention to children, whom he always viewed with a species 
of paternal regard. In respect to his management of these, 
he either was gifted by nature, or had obtained from practice, 
a certain degree of authority not easily to be conceived. His 
influence in this respect has come to my knowledge on more 
than one occasion, and I have latelv seen a srentleman w^ho 



JOHN HORNU TOOKE. 109 

assured me, that when a boy, he never stood so much in awe of 
any person in the world as the subject of these memoirs. He 
added, there was something inexpressibly significant in his voice, 
manner and gestures, that rendered it impossible to approach 
him with the same ease as an ordinary mortal ! 

At the earnest request of his father, who was a zealous 
member of the church of England, he now entered into holy 
orders, and was accordingly ordained a deacon ; but it was not 
until a subsequent period that he qualified himself for holding- 
preferment, by passing through the usual ceremonies incident 
to the priesthood. 

The law had ever been the favorite profession of the subject 
of these memoirs and that on which he occasionally descanted 
with complacency, and even with rapture, until the latest hour 
of his existence. He early perceived that the career of the bar 
included the senate, the bench, the woolsack, and all the patri- 
cian honours. Even during the feudal times, when birth seemed 
indispensably necessary for the attainment of most other civil 
distinctions, it was never deemed a disqualification in respect 
to this, which was then usually connected with the clerical 
functions. 

A good education, a liberal share of the gifts of nature, a 
consciousness of his own powers, superadded to a bold and 
daring character, seemed at once to urge and to qualify Mr. 
Home for the profession of an advocate. In addition to all this? 
he doubtless recollected that a degree at Cambridge would 
facilitate his claims and his labours. He had accordingly entered 
himself a member of the society of the Inner Temple, in 1756. 
four years before he was admitted '\nio full orders ; httle dream- 
ing that, in consequence of the latter event, a precedent should 
be hereafter made, in his case, for the express purpose of his 
exclusion ; and that this too should be founded on the identical 
reason, that, in all former times, had rendered those of his cloth 
peculiarly eligible. 

Our young lawyer, for so he may be now termed, partook of 
commons regularly, during term time ; or, in other words, sat 
down to his beef or mutton daily, in the hall of liis inn of court, 
with a view of enabling him. in his own phrase, ' to eat his way 
to the bar." 



110 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

It would appear, however, that the partiaUty of Mr. Honif 
for the bai' was not destmed to be gratified. His family, who 
had never sanctioned this attachment, deemed the church far 
more eligible as a profession, and he was at length obliged to 
yield, notwithstanding his reluctance, to the admonitions, the 
entreaties, and the persuasions of his parents. 

Accordingly, in 1760, Mr. Home was admitted a priest of 
the church of England, by Dr. John Thomas, bishop of Sarum : 
and in the course of the same year he obtained the living of 
Brentford, in the county of Middlesex, which was purchased 
for him by his father, and is said to have produced the sum of 
between two and three hundred pounds per annum. This 
income was enjoyed by the subject of this memoir during the 
term of eleven years, and in the course of that period he not 
only did duty at Brentford, but also preached in many of the 
churches of the metropolis. 

In 1763, it appears, that Mr. Home had been prevailed upon 
to become a travelling tutor to one of the sons of the eccentric 
Mr. Elwes, afterwards knight of the shire for the county of 
Berks. 

Young Elwes being now entrusted to his charge, they 
repaired to France together, where they appear to have 
remained considerably more than a year, contemplating what- 
ever was worthy of notice in that kingdom. This journey 
occurred immediately after the conclusion of the peace of Paris. 

Towards the end of the year 1764 the tutor, returned with 
his pupil to England ; and had he been heartily attached to his 
profession, there can be but httle doubt that he might have 
enjoyed a fair share of its advantages. While a boy, he had 
been introduced at Leicester House, by means of Dr. de Main- 
bray, and was accustomed to play with his present majesty, who 
was exactly two years younger than himself, once or twice a 
week. He enjoyed the friendship of Mr. Elwes, who possessed 
considerable influence ; and he was also patronised by Mr. 
Levintz, the receiver-general of the customs. By the kind 
intervention of the latter, apparently exerted through the channel 
of a nobleman in high favor at court, he was promised to be 
appointed one of the king's chaplains : and had a prospect of 



JOHN HORNE TOOKt. Ill 

such other preterment as was sufficient to satisfy his wisiies. 
In fine, a man so gifted and so favored might have aspired to 
all the honors of his profession ; he might have enjoyed wealth 
and respect, and that learned ease so dear to a man of letters. 

But we shall soon discover that these flattering and seductive 
prospects did not prove sufficient to counteract certain impres- 
sions, which had been indelibly engraved on a mind, at once 
bold and original ; avaricious of fame, and disdainful alike of 
riches and preferment, when these appeared to be in opposition 
to his principles. 

During his residence at Brentford, however, he seems to 
have labored to prove useful to his parishioners and all around 
him. His sermons were plain, perspicuous, and practical dis- 
courses, tending to remind his audience of their duties to God, 
their neighbours, and themselves. While he explained the 
tenets of Christianity, and insisted on their decisive superiority 
over those of all other religions, he is said to have carefully 
abstained from controversial points. 

No one, however, was ever more ready -or more eager in 
private to oppugn and refute the doctrines of the catholic 
church. These he eagerly opposed, both then and throughout 
the whole of a long and active life, from a variety of causes. 
First, he deemedmany of its observances superstitious ; secondly, 
he abhorred the idea of a connexion with, and reliance on, a 
foreign jurisdiction, as this seemed to trench on the independence 
of his native country ; and thirdly, in consequence of auricular 
confession, and the powers assumed as well as exercised by the 
priesthood of that persuasion, he considered this system as 
highly unfriendly to human freedom. 

Mr. Home had no sooner obtained his living, than he deter- 
mined to administer every possible comfort to the poor of the 
populous neighbourhood, by which he was surrounded. He 
was regular in his attention to the sick, a circumstance accom- 
panied with a double portion of consolation. Not content with 
praying with those that desired it, he actually studied the healing 
art, for the express purpose of relieving the complaints of such 
as were unable to pay for the assistance of an apothecary. To 
attain this end, he carefully studied the w orks of Boerhaave, and 



112 SKETCH OF THU LIFE OF 

the best practical physicians of that day ; and having learned to 
compound a few medicines, he formed a little dispensary at 
the parsonage-house, whence he supplied the wants of his 
numerous and grateful patients.* He was accustomed at times, 
to plume himself on the cures he had performed, and often 
observed, 'that, although physic was said to be a proble- 
matical art, he believed that his medical, were far more effica- 
cious than his spiritual labors.' 

On the other hand, he mixed with genteel society, enjoyed 
all its pleasures and advantages, and indeed always entertained 
a high relish for company and conversation. As he was fond 
of associating with the fair sex, he endeavored to render himself 
agreeable, by complying with the fashion of the times ; and it 
is not to be denied, that he was, at one period, accused of being 
too fond of cards, and of spending too much of his time at 
ombre, quadrille, and whist. But it does not appear that he 
was thereby induced to neglect any of his duties ; and although 
he was sometimes attempted to be stigmatised with the appella- 
tion of ' the cardinal priest,' yet he has never been accused of 
indulging in games of chance, or playing for any sum that might 
impair liis fortune, or engender the remotest suspicion of 
avarice. 

As he advanced in years, pursuits of a far different kind 
engrossed his attention. He had cedsed indeed to be a lawyer, 
but he had become a politician. His vicinity to town enabled 
him to be speedily acquainted with all the events of the times, 
and there is something in the very atmosphere of a great metro- 
polis, that communicates its influence to a wide circle around it. 

Mr. Home appears, in early life, to have imbibed liigh and 
exalted notions of public liberty ; and these, operating on a 



* As Mr. Home was a well read lawyer, and actually gave advice to his friends 
on that subject also, it would seem that the character given by Pope to a Mr. 
Kyrle, would equally apply to Home. 

" Is any sick ? the Man of Ross relieves, 

Prescribes, attends, the med'cine makes, and gives. 

Is there a variance ? enter but his door, 

Balk'd are the Courts, and contest is no more." — ,flm. Edit, 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 



m 



sanguine temperament, produced a degree of zeal, which, before 
it was corrected by experience, must at times have approxi- 
mated to political fanaticism. It would be truly curious to 
trace the origin of those ideas, and thus, connecting cause with 
effect, make a hberal estimate of the result ; but, in the absence 
of facts, it is only permitted to guess at first causes, by a recur- 
rence to contemporary history, 

When he was a boy, the immediate effects of the revolution 
had not yet ceased to operate : while the new dynasty intro- 
duced by it, was still alarmed by the claims of a pretender to 
the throne. All parties ultimately appealed to the nation, and 
they who hailed the name of William III. as the 'great deliv- 
erer,' or supported the legitimate claims of the house of Bruns- 
wick to the crown, alike founded their pretensions on popular 
rights. It was thus decidedly the interest even of the court, 
to countenance those principles, whence it derived its strength 
and stability : and an unhappy breach, which at this period took 
place in the royal family, was at least accompanied with this 
advantage, that it contributed not a little to produce a competi- 
tion for public favor and approbation. 

Pitt and Lyttleton, fostered by the patronage of Frederick, 
prince of Wales, now thundered in the senate in behalf of free- 
dom ; and exhibited specimens of eloquence worthy of the 
classical ages. Bolingbroke, too, under the same auspices, in 
his animated attacks on the administration of a great but odious 
statesman,* exhibited the first fine models of political contro- 
versy, which were afterwards copied and improved by Burke, 
and imitated, but not excelled, by Junius. The Bangorian con- 
troversy, too, during which a celebrated prelatef denied the 
pretensions of his own order to temporal jurisdiction, had 
enlightened the minds and sharpened the wits of the nation : in 
short, liberal investigation, as connected with the pretensions of 
the reigning sovereign, had become the genius of the age, and 
could not fail to have influenced both the mind and the conduct 
of the subject of this memoir. 



* Sir Robert Walpole, afterwards created earlofOrford, 
^ Dr. Hoadly, bis^hop of Winchester. 

15 



1 14 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

A variety of concurring causes might also be adduced, and a 
multitude of suppositions suggested ; but there are no Hmits to 
conjecture, and perhaps it might be carrying the spirit of 
speculation too far, to suppose that young Home had been 
inoculated by approximation to royalty, and first caught the 
holy flame of freedom, at Leicester House ; the altars of which 
then smoked continually with popular incense, while strains 
were there chanted to liberty, by the best poets of the age, 
worthy of the days of Harmodius and Aristogiton. 



CHAPTER VIIL 

FROJI 1T65 TO 1T6T. 

The subject of this Memoir determines to take an active Part in 
the Disputes of that day. — Revisits France ; ivhere he meets 
with Mr. TVilkes. — Cojjy of a singular letter transmitted from 
Montpellier. — He repairs to Itahj. 

Such was the situation of public affairs, and so feverish and 
irritable the minds of the nation, when the subject of these 
memoirs first appeared on the scene.' It has become the prudent 
practice of domestic life, during these latter times, to contem- 
plate the disputes of opposing parties, merely with a view to 
individual interest ; and either remain indifferent spectators, or 
to declare for the victors, who are alone able to reward their 
adherents. But it appears to have been otherwise, half a 
century ago ; and Mr. Home, whose mind was formed on the 
ancient models, alike despised a neutrality, which he deemed 
criminal, and an acquiescence, which would have been con- 
sidered by him as degrading. Accordingly, although the star 
of the house of Bute was now in the ascendant, yet being con- 
sidered by him as a malignant planet, that portended no good 
to his native country, with all the generous impetuosity of youth, 
he instantly decided against his own immediate interest. Warmly 
attached to the constitution, both from education and reflection, 
he burned with impatience to support its tottering fabric. 



.lOUN HORNE TOOKK. 



115 



Bold, ai'dent, enthusiastic, he suspected that a regular plot was 
actually formed for its destruction, and already anticipated the 
time, when, like Denmark about a century before,* and Sweden 
at a subsequent period,f the liberties of Great Britain were to 
be laid prostrate at the feet of a young, artful, and ambitious 
monai'ch ! 

This suspicion, however strange and unaccountable it may 
appear to some, he cherished until the day of liis death, and this 
ought to be considered as one of the secret, but powerful 
springs, by which all the actions of his future life were actuated. 
Let it be recollected, however, that he had been brought up in 
the principles so warmly advocated by the whigs, at the time of 
the revolution, and which still continued to operate towards the 
middle of the last century. Those ideas, too, were fortified by 
an acquaintance with the history of the ancient commonwealths, 
and seconded by an ardent temperament, which pointed out 
the present as a favorable opportunity to acquire renown and 
distinction. 

It ought also to be added, that he gloried in the name of 
Englishman, and justly considered the constitution of his native 
country as surpassing, in point of real efficacy and practical 
excellence, not only all contemporary, but all antecedent govern- 
ments, whether republican or monarchical. His judgment lately 
refreshed, as well as invigorated by foreign travel, had enabled 
him to make a comparative estimate between what he had seen 
at home and abroad ; and it was with pride he beheld the 
balance in favor of human happiness, to be on the side of the 
land which had given him birth. 

It will, therefore, appear less surprising, perhaps, that a man, 
who considered every infringement of the British constitution 
as a sacrilege, should, on such an occasion, be ready to dash the 
untasted cup of preferment from his lips, and begin his career, 
by offering up the greatest of all sacrifices, at the altar of public 
freedom. From this moment, therefore, he devoted himself to 
what he considered the public cause ; and, laying aside all 



* In 1661, during the reign of Frederick III. 
i August 19, 1772, by Gnstavus III. 



116 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 



thoughts of ecclesiastical preferment, he seemed to have deter- 
mined early in life, either to vindicate the liberties of his country 
or suffer as a martyr in their defence. 

It was in vain that his brother-in-law* remonstrated against 
his imprudent conduct, and that all his friends whispered in his 
ear, that he was about to put an eternal bar to his future pre- 
ferment. The image of Mr. Pitt seemed to have haunted his 
dreams ; the wrongs of Mr. Wilkes to have broken his slumbers; 
the fame acquired by both, to have either awakened, or at least 
given a new direction to his youthful ambition. In short, he 
resembled Themistocles, when he declared, " that the trophies 
of Miltiades would not allow him to sleep." 

Listening to notliing but the voice of patriotism, he now took 
the field against corruption, and boldly assailed all those whom 
he considered as enemies to his country. Of his first Uterary 
efforts, it is difficult, at this period, to give any account. A song 
to celebrate the liberation of Wilkes from the Tower, has been 
preserved in the memory of a surviving friend ; but it appears 
evident, from a variety of circumstances, that his labors were 
chiefly directed against the favorite.f Squibs, puns, paragraphs, 
letters, and essays, were all employed in their turn, on this 
occasion. By degrees, he extended his plan, and on finding 
that the chief justice of the King's BenchJ had pronounced 
some severe and unpopular sentences against those who 
espoused the same cause with himself, he attacked him with an 
unexampled degree of severity : in respect to this nobleman, 
indeed, he appears, hke Hannibal with the Romans, to have 
sworn an eternal enmity.§ The cabinet, too, was by turns 
assailed, with all the united efforts of sarcasm, ridicule, and 
argument ; and his own, in conjunction with a thousand pens 



^ Dr. Demainbray. j Lord Bute. :|: Lord Mansfield. 

§ Junius, in letter, No. 68, addressed to lord Camden, says, " Considering the 
situation and abilities of lord Mansfield, I do not scruple to affirm, with the most 
solemn appeal to God, for my sincerity, that in my judgment, he is the very worst 
and most dangerous man in the kingdom. Thus far I liave done my duty in 
endeavoring to bring him to punishment. But mine is an inferior ministerial 
office in the temple of justice : I have bound the victim, and dragged him to the 
altar."— .«m. Edit. 



JOHN HORN E TOOKK- IH 

brandished on this occasion, in one common cause, soon rendered 
that one of the most unpopular administrations which England 
had witnessed for a century. 

But his chief effort, consisted of an anonymous pamphlet, 
which appears to have been so replete with zeal, that for a long 
while no one could be found who was daring enough to usher 
it into the world. At length, however, a hold publisher was 
discovered, and the work in question printed, and prepared for 
circulation, on the express condition, that the author's name 
should remain a secret until a prosecution was threatened. 

This publication, which has now become extremely scarce, 
was chiefly directed against the earls of Bute and Mansfield : 
and is entitled : 

" The Petition of an Englishman ; with which are given a 
copperplate of the Croix de St. Pillory, and a true and accu- 
rate plan of some part of Kew Gardens." The following 
motto is prefixed : " Honor is worth ambition in a Pillory ;" 
and Dryden's apology for this species of composition is quoted 
by way of preface : there are two reasons, (observes that great 
poet,) for which we may be permitted to write lampoons. The 
first is, when we have been notoriously abused, and can make 
ourselves no other reparation. 

" The second reason which may justify an author, when he 
writes against a particular person, is, when that person is become 
a public nuisance. 'Tis an action of virtue to make examples of 
bad men. They may, and ought to be upbraided with their 
crimes and follies, both for their own amendment, if they are 
not incorrigible, and for the terror of others, to hinder them 
from falling into those enormities, which they see are severely 
punished in the persons of others. The first reason is only an 
excuse for revenge ; but this second is absolutely of an author's 
office to perform." 

In the tract, which is addressed " to the right honorable, truly 
noble, and truly Scottish lords, Mortimer and Jeffries," there 
are many offensive passages. These exhibit a complete speci- 
men of that personal and national satire so common during the 
early period of the present reign ; and which, in consequence 
of the lapse of half a century, and the change that has taken 



118 SKETCH OF TllJi LIFE OF 

place ill our manners, would now be considered as liighiy inde- 
corous. It may be permitted, however, to obsei-ve, that the 
two noblemen mentioned above, (Bute and Mansfield,) are told 
that they have created a new institution in this kingdom, called 

" the order of merit or of the pillory. The boon I beg of 

you, (continues the author,) is to be admitted a knight com- 
panion of this honorable order ; and that you would, in conse- 
quence of this my request, speedily issue forth a Particular 
Warrant, for me to be invested with this noble Croix de St. 
Pillory. Some such institution as the above-mentioned has 
long been wanting in this kingdom. Give me leave to assure 
your lordships, it is with no small mortification, that my coun- 
trymen appeal" in foreign courts and nations, where they find 
themselves surrounded by many acknowledged men of merit — 
the chevaliers of different orders — themselves undignified with 
any title, but that of Englishman : their noble bosoms deco- 
rated with no jewel, but — precious liberty ! 

" And since, by you, the EngUsh name is now melted down 
to Briton ; and Liberty, wrested from our hands, is, with great 
propriety, trusted to the keeping of Scotch justices and court 
boroughs : — leave us not naked of every honorable distinction- 
Give us this badge in lieu of what you have taken from us : 
that we may afford a striking proof to some future Montes- 
quieu, how true it is, that the spirit of liberty may survive the 
constitution ; and that, though it is possible for an infamous 

Toy ?\ favourite, by corruption of and with the assistance of 

an iniquitous prerogative judge, to harass and drive insulted 
Liberty from our arms, yet still she finds a refuge, from which 
she can never be expelled — a freeman's breast." 

From this new order, the author digresses to a popular sub- 
ject, and exclaims : " No ! Wilkes, thou art not alone — we are 
all oj^^lawed. Sentence is passed on all. The only difference 
is, that they \m.\'e fonnalhj driven thee from the protection of 
the laws, and they have virtually taken the protection of the 
laws from us," 

" The aflfair of imprisonment, (it is added,) he leaves entirely 
to your wisdom and discretion : though indeed he rather con- 
siders that as a thing of course. For your lordships, no doubt- 



JOHN HOKNE TOOKE, 1 19 

have somewhere read, that truth (if it is a virtue) is a virtue Uke 
the plague — having too often the same quaUty of making us 
generally shunned and avoided. 

" Wisely, therefore, do your lordships, to prevent spreading 
the infection, send it to perform quarantine in the King's Bench. 
Mutilation too, he has forborne to mention, though entirely of 
your sentiments — that from the natiu'al body, as well as from 
the body politic, should be lopped, without mercy, the members 
that offend. 

" Squeeze out, therefore, the eyes that presume to pry into 
your mysteries and intrigxies of state or lust. 

" Slit the nose that dares to smell a rat. 

" Wring off the ears and root out the tongues that listen to. 
or whisper the words — liberty m\d laivs.* 



* Junius, in the Preface to his letters, says, " If any honest man should still 
be inclined to leave the construction of libels to the court, I would entreat him to 
consider what a dreadful comphcation of hardships he imposes upon his fellow- 
subjects. In the first place, the prosecution commences by information of an offi- 
cer of the crown, not by the regular constitutional mode of indictment before a 
grand jury. As the fact is usually admitted, or, in general can easily be proved, 
the office of the petty jury is nugatory : the court then judges of the nature and 
extent of the offence, and determines, ad arbitrium, the quantum of the punish- 
ment, from a small fine to a heavy one, to repeated whipping, to pillory, and 
imlimited imprisonment. Cutting off ears and noses might be inflicted by a reso- 
lute judge : but I will be candid enough to suppose that penalties, so apparently 
shocking to humanity, woidd not be hazarded in these times. In all other crimi- 
nal prosecutions the jury decides upon the fact and the crime in one word, and 
the court pronounces a certain sentence, which is the sentence of the law, not of 
the judge. If lord Mansfield's doctrine be received, the jury must either find a 
verdict of acquittal, contrary to evidence, which, I can conceive, might be done 
by very conscientious men, rather than trust a fellow-creature to lord Mansfield's 
mercy ; or they must leave to the court two offices, never but in this instance 
united, of finding guilty, and awarding punishment." 

And in letter, No. 41, addressed to lord Mansfield, he says, "When you invade 
the province of the jury, in matter of libel, you, in effect, attack the liberty of the 
press, and, with a single stroke, wound two of your greatest enemies. In some 
instances you have siiccetded, because jurymen are too often ignorant of their 
own rights, and too apt to be awed by the authority of a chief justice. In other 
criminal prosecutions, the mahce of the design is confessedly as much the 
subject of consideration to a jury as the certainty of the fact. If a differ- 
ent doctrine prevails in the case of libels, why should it not extend to all 
criminal cases? Why not to capital offences? I see no reason (and I dare 



130 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

" And for the sake of congruity, for your own satisfaction, 
and certainty of a punctual performance — be yourselves the 
executioners of the sentences you pass. — And let Fulvia, with 
her bodkin, pierce through again the tongue of Cicero. 

" But you may go farther than this scheme of partial punish- 
ment. — Nay, you must. For chopping off the hands of authors 
would be doing worse than nothing. They spring up like Hydra's 
heads. And it is to be apprehended, lest the remaining stump 
of some poor, mangled carcass, instead of ink, should write 
his purposes in blood. 

" Hang up at once, then, all who can read or write. 

" You have a precedent in Cade.* And for the justification 
of any infamous and dirty business, it is st present sufficient that 
there is a precedent." 

After this, the author returns to his favorite subject, the vio- 
lation of public justice, in the person of a popular commoner : 

" Your lordships' firm and persevering conduct has effected 
what our laws never could. And an Englishman is under a 
necessity of being either absolutely free from faults and indis- 
cretions — which is difficult — or your friend — which is impossible. 
For we have seen, by Mr. Wilkes's treatment, that no man who 
is not, and who has not always been, absolutely per/eci himself, 
must dare to arraign the measures of a minister. 

The following passages are too singular to be omitted, as they 
seem to savour of prophecy, exhibit the same indications of 
spirit with which the author was animated ; and at the same 



say you will agree with me, that there is no good one) why the hfe of the sub- 
ject should be better protected against you, than his liberty or property. Wjjy 
should you enjoy the full power of pillory, fine and imprisonment, and not be 
indulged with hanging or transportation ? With your lordship's fertile genius 
and merciful disposition, I can conceive such an exercise of the power you have, 
as could hardly be aggravated by that which you have not." — Jim. Edit. 



-*■ {Enter a ClerJc.) 

Weaver. The clerk of Chatham. He can write and read and cast accompts. 

Jack Cade. 0, Monstrous ! 

Weaver. We took him setting copies. 

Cade. Here's a villain ! 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 121 

time prove that he was ready to devote himself to what he 
doubtless considered the cause of the nation : 

" Even I, my countrymen, who now address myself to you — ■ 
I, who am at present blessed with peace, with happiness, and 
independence, a fair character, and an easy fortune, am at this 
moment forfeiting them all. 

" Soon must I be beggared, vilified, imprisoned. The hounds 
of power will be unkennelled and laid upon the scent. They 
will track out diligently my footsteps, from my very cradle. 
And if I should be found once to have set my foot awry — ^it is 
enough. — Instant they open on me. — My private faults shall 
justify their public infamy, and the follies of my youth be 
pleaded in defence of their riper villany. 

" Spirit of Hampden, Russel, Sidney ! animate my country- 
men ! I invoke not your assistance for myself ; for I was born 
indeed a freeman. 

" My heart in its first pantings beat to liberty. She is twisted 
with my heart-strings, and cannot be torn from thence. They 
have formed together a gordian knot, wliich cannot be untwisted 
by the subtle fingers of corruption, nor loosened by the touch 
of fear. Nothing can separate us. No ! not the cruel and 
bloody sword of tyranny. Her union with me is lovely and 
honorable through life ; and even in death I will not be divided 
from her." 

Mr. Home was very fortunate to escape from'that prosecu- 
tion, which he seemed to court. For this impunity, he was 
perhaps indebted to his seeming indiscretion, as he had made 
some gross allusions to the honor of a great lady, which might 
have rendered a trial in a court of justice both injudicious and 
indelicate ; while it would have added not a little to the public 
odium against this personage, relative to whom, too many pre- 
judices unhappily subsisted at that moment. 

But it is not a little creditable to the subject of these memoirs 
that, whatever his political opinions might be, and however far 
his zeal might have carried him beyond the customary bounds 
of discretion, his character and integiity were alike unimpeach- 
able. That he was respected not only by his own parishioners, 

but also by the families of the neighboring gentry, there cannot 

16 



l'2'2 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

be a better proof than the fact that he was repeatedly selected 
to superintend the morals, and regulate the conduct of young 
men of fortune. 

Of this, a new instance occurred in 1765, when he was ap- 
plied to by Mr. Taylor, a gentleman residing within a few miles 
of Brentford, to accompany his son, during an excursion to 
Italy. Having been always fond of travelling, and particularly 
delighted with the prospect that now occurred, of treadmg on 
classic ground, he readily accepted the offer ; and towards the 
autumn of the same year, set forward with his usual zeal and 
alacrity. 

Perhaps it may be here necessaiy to observe, that, at Dover, 
Mr. Home constantly changed his clerical dress ; and, on cross- 
ing that narrow strait, which, by separating us from " that pale, 
that white-faced shore"* of France, has happily insured our 
independence, assumed the habit, appearance, and manners of 
a private gentleman. Nor ought it to be omitted, that, on both 
this and the former occasion, the young gentleman entrusted to 
his care, never once dreamed, that he was under his inspection ; 
but deemed himself highly honored, as well as obliged, by the 
permission to accompany him in the capacity of a friend during 
this journey. 

Soon after his arrival at Calais, our traveller saw and con- 
versed with the father of the present Mr. Sheridan, then 
employed on a scheme of perfecting and extending the English 
language. 

On his arrival in the capital, he visited several of his coun- 
trymen, and, by means of a letter of introduction from Mr. 
Humphrey Cotes, he enjoyed an opportunity of being intro- 
duced to Mr. Wilkes, v/ho was then in exile. Accordingly, he 
immediately waited upon that gentleman, who received him 
with distinguished politeness. He was already known to the 
" patriot" by reputation, and the handsome manner in which he 
had mentioned this popular character, while laboring under the 
penalties of proscription, could not fail to excite his gratitude 
and esteem. 

That celebrated commoner who, with a correct and elegant 

* King John, act ii, scene 1 . 



JOHN IIORXE TOOKE. 123 

taste, united all the vices of a fine gentleman, and all the dis- 
cernment of a man of the world, soon discovered that liis new 
acquaintance was no ordinary man. He instantly perceived, 
that he was not onlv a scholar, but a person of conspicuous talents. 
One so richly gifted, and so replete with zeal and disinterested- 
ness, was likely to prove serviceable both to his present and 
future views; he therefore solicited his friendship, and after 
much entreaty, exacted a promise of correspondence. This 
was acceded to in an evil hour, by our traveller, as will be seen 
hereafter ; while the gay colonel of the Buckingham militia, 
plunging into the dissipation of a luxurious metropolis, soon 
forgot to cultivate that acquaintance, which he had been so 
desirous to form and to improve. 

Mr. Home, after a short residence there, proceeded to Ge- 
neva, in the vicinity of which he visited Voltaire ; and in the 
south of France associated with the author of the " Sentimen- 
tal Journey." He then crossed the Alps, and at Genoa remained 
for some time in the same house with Mr. Rosenhagen, a man 
whose abilities were once considered of so high an order, as to 
entitle him to the suspicion of being " Junius." After this, he 
viewed all the great cities of Italy, and spent the festive season 
of the Carnival at Venice. 

On his arrival at Montpelier, Mr. Home and his young friend 
visited all the genteel company in that place, both French and 
English. Among the latter was the late duke of Buccleugh 
accompanied by the celebrated Dr. Adam Smith, author of the 
'• Wealth of Nations," as a travelling tutor ; and Mr., now Sir 
Thomas Hussey Apreece. 

It was during his residence in a city, which, by the caprice 
of fashion, was then deemed eminently salubrious, and is now 
carefully avoided during a large portion of the year, on account 
of the deleterious effluvia of the neighboring marshes, that Mr. 
Home seems to have first recollected his pledge to the famous 
patriot whom he had left in exile at Paris. He now commenced 
an epistolatory correspondence, by means of a letter equally 
singular and indiscreet. The following is the only correct and 
authentic copy which has ever appeared ; and no attempt shall 
be here made to palliate, far less to justify certain passages 



i'24 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

which cannot be excused in any point of view, or under any 
circumstances whatever. 

" To John Wilkes, Esq. — Paris. 

" Montpelier, Jan. 3, 1766. 

" Dear Sir, — I well recollect our mutual engagement at part- 
ing, and most willingly proceed to fulfil my part of the agree- 
ment. 

" You are now entering into a correspondence with a parson, 
and I am greatly apprehensive lest that title should disgust ; but 
give me leave to assure you, I am not ordained a hypocrite. It 
is true I have suffered the infectious hand of a bishop to be 
waved over me ; whose imposition like the sop given to Judas, 
is only a signal for the devil to enter. 

" I allow, that usually at that touch — ' fugiunt pudor verum- 
que, fidesque. In quorum subeunt locum fraudes, dolique, 
insidiaeque,' &c. «fcc. but I hope I have escaped the contagion ; 
and if I have not , if you should at any time discover the black 
spot under the tongue, pray kindly assist me to conquer the 
prejudices of education and profession. 

" I have not received as yet any letters from England. I believe 
there are a few left for me at the Post-house, at Marseilles ; 
but I do not expect any intelligence in them : I hope for some 
from you relative to yourself that may give me pleasure, though 
I am half afraid the hopes of the present ministry have mis- 
carried ; for lord St. John of Blesto, not long since showed me 
a letter from the duke of Grafton, excusing himself for not 
appointing his lordship to the embassy of Constantinople, and 
mentioning the nomination of Mr. Murray ; at the same time 
his lordship told me, that he too had long been soliciting that 
employment : I wish there had been no greater obstacle in 
your way than his lordship's interest and merit. 

" I passed a week with Sterne, at Lyons, and am to meet him 
again at Sienna in the summer. — Forgive my question, and do 
not answer it, if it is impertinent. Is there any cause of cold- 
ness between you and Sterne ? 

" He speaks very handsomely of you, when it is absolutely 
necessary to speak at all : but not with that ivarmth and enthu- 



JOHN IIORNE TOOKE. 125 

siasm that I expect from every one that knows you. Do not 
let me cause a coldness between you, if there is none. I am 
sensible my question is at least imprudent, and my jealousy 
blameable. 

" Sheridan is at Blois, by order of his majesty, and with a 
pension ; inventing the method to give a proper pronunciation 
of the English language to strangers, by means of sounds 
borrowed from their own. And he begins with the French. 

" I remember, a few years ago, when an attempt was made 
to prove lord Harborough an idiot, the council on both sides 
produced the same instance ; one of his wit, the other of his 
folly. His servants were puzzled once to unpack a large box, 
and his lordship advised them to do with it, as they did with an 
oyster, put it on the fire, and it would gape ! 

" This commission of Sheridan appears to me equally equivo- 
cal. And should a similar statute be at any time attempted 
against his majesty, they who do not know him may be apt to 
suspect that he employed Sheridan in this manner, not so much 
for the sake of foreigners as his own subjects ; and had per- 
mitted him to amuse himself abroad, to prevent his spoiling our 
pronunciation at home. 

" I have this moment seen a letter from England, that tells 
me that Fitzherbert has sent you a power to draw on him to the 
amount of 1000/. a year : 

" Eutrapelus, cuicunque nocere volebat 
Vestimenta dabat pretiosa : * 



* As this well quoted passage afterwards became a subject of contention, the 
Vvhole of it is here subjoined : 

Eutrapelus, cuicumque nocere volebat, 
Vestimenta dabat pretiosa. Beatus enim jam 
Cum pulcris tunicis sumet nova consilia et spes : 
Dormiet in lucem , scorto postponet honestum 
Officium ; nummos alienos pascet : ad imum 
Thrax erit, aut olitoris aget mercede caballum." 

Epist. ad Lollium, 812, Hor. Lib. 1. 

Translation, — by Philip Francis, D. D. 
Eutrapelus in merry mood, 
The objects of his wrath pursued, 



1'2G SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

'• I am afraid this is Eutrapelian generosity ; and that, by 
furnishing you with the means of pleasure, they intend to 
consign you over to dissipation, and the grand points of national 
liberty and your glory to oblivion. I am sure they will be mis- 
taken ; nothing little or common is for the future to be pardoned 
you. 

" The public have done you the justice to form extravagant 
notions of you ; and though they would be very sorry to see 
you neglect any opportunity of serving your private interest ; 
yet they hope never to have cause to reproach you as Brutus 
did Cicero. — ' That it was not so much a master that he feared, 
as Anthony for that master.' 

" You perceive how freely I deliver my sentiments ; but all 
this is uttered in the openness of my heart, and ought not to 
offend you, as it proceeds from a man who has always both felt 
for your sufferings and spoken highly of your conduct in 
the public cause. In the meantime, I am, dear sir, your most 
obedient and very humble servant, John Horne." 

Of the first portion of this letter, enough has been already 
said, and it is to be hoped, that the writer, on this occasion, 
rather flattered the supposed opinions of his new acquaintance, 
than exhibited his own. The remainder is equally curious and 
interesting ; for it proves that Mr. Horne had already detected 
the secret views of Mr. Wilkes, who had long wished to repair 
to a distant part of the world, in some honorable and lucrative 



And where he deepest vengeance meant, 
Fine clothes, with cruel bountj^ sent ; 
For, when the happy coxcomb's drest, 
Strange hopes and projects fill his breast ; 
He sleeps till noon, nor will tl.e varlct, 
For fame or fortune, leave his harlot. 
Lavish he feeds the usurer's store, 
And when the miser lends no more, 
He leajns the gladiator's art, 
Or humbly drives a gardener's cart. — Am. Edit. 
Volumnius F>utrapclus was a companion of the profligate Anthony, and is 
mentioned by Cicero, both in bis Episles and Phihppics. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 1*2? 

employment, and that of minister to the Ottoman Porte had 
been actually selected by himself. It appears evident, too, that 
his intelligence was so excellent, that he had become acquauited 
%vith the negociation with the Rockingham administration, in 
consequence of which, a considerable annuity was to be paid 
this gentleman, while he remained in exile, with a view of keep- 
ing him quiet. The sum in question, however, was not to be 
taken out of the public money, but levied by a voluntary sub- 
scription from the salaries of those m place. 

Whether it was, that Mr. Wilkes was piqued at the discovery, 
or mortified at the disclosure of this transaction, is uncertain ; 
but true it is, that no answer was ever returned to this singular 
epistle. Whatever may be its faults, no one can deny that the 
sentiments disclosed in the latter part of it, are as just and com- 
mendable, as those in the former are offensive and indiscreet ; 
and it will readily occur, that therein is developed, even at 
this early period, not only that warmth of sentiment, but the 
same noble scorn of corruption, which the writer steadily 
evinced through life. 

Meanwhile, the neglect with which he was treated, could not 
but prove trying in the extreme, to a man eager to cultivate an 
intimacy with Mr. Wilkes ; who had been prevailed upon to 
accept an invitation to a literary intercourse, and had committed 
himself, in amanner,andto anextent, whence it was impossible to 
recede. Notwithstanding all this, on his return to Paris, in the 
course of the ensuing spring, Mr. Home found means to see the 
exiled patriot, without undergoing either the formality or humi- 
liation of a visit. This opportunity of demanding an explana- 
tion was not suffered to escape ; but every attempt to gratify 
his curiosity was skilfully parried for a time by Mr. Wilkes, 
who, over a bottle of Burgundy, in a jocular manner, and with 
his usual flow of wit and vivacity, endeavored to convert the 
whole into a joke. Finding, however, that his correspondent 
was too serious to participate in his witticisms, he concluded by 
denying the receipt of the fatal epistle ! 

But notwithstanding our traveller had reason to suspect his 
veracity, even at that period, yet a reconciliation actually took 
place. 



1*28 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

Being now about to repair to England, where it was neces- 
sary that he should resume his clerical dress and functions, Mr. 
Home deterniined to leave his fashionable clothes at Paris, 
whither he had determined to return in the course of a few 
months. He accordingly confided his wardrobe to the care of 
Mr. Wilkes, as may be seen from the following curious note, 
transmitted to that gentleman on the morning of his departure. 

" Paris, May 25, 1767. 

" Dear Sir, — According to your permission, I leave with you : 
one suit of scarlet and gold cloth, one suit of white and silver 
cloth, one suit of blue and silver camblet, one suit of flowered 
silk, one suit of black silk, one black velvet surtout. 

" If you have any fellow-feeling, you cannot but be kind to 
them ; since they too, as well as yourself, are outlawed in Eng- 
land, and on the same account — their superior worth. 

" I am, dear Sir, your very affectionate humble servant, 

" John Horne." 

Here the reader will naturally reflect upon the forlorn condi- 
tion in which Mr. Horne found his friend Wilkes : — banished 
from his country, and an outlaw ; brooding over his misfor- 
tunes, and imprecating vengeance upon his persecutors. The 
conduct of his former friend, lord Chatham, who, it seems, had 
become a very difterent man when earl of Chatham, from what 
he was when plain Mr. Pitt, must have excited his utmost indig- 
nation. He shows to Mr. Horne a copy of his letter to the 
duke of Grafton on the subject, and a reply to it by W. D. ; 
which, in consequence of liis absence from England, Mr. Horne 
had not before seen. It may be easily imagined that the warm, 
the patriotic, the generous feelings of Mr. Horne were raised 
to the highest pitch of enthusiasm in behalf of Mr. Wilkes, as 
a patriotic sufferer in the cause of liberty ; and a bitter philippic, 
directed chiefly against lord Chatham, soon appears in the Pub- 
lic Advertiser of London, under the signature of Poplicola. 

At Paris, and not in London or its vicinity, in my opinion, the 
two first letters of Junius were written. They bear every 
mark of a writer who had been absent from his countrj^ and 



.mili\ HOllNE ToOKi:. 



129 



Was Ignorant of what had passed. How otherwise can it be 
accounted for that Pophcola answers, on the 28th of May, 1767, 
an article that appeared in the Public Advertiser in Dec. 1766, 
as though it had been published the day preceding ? commenc- 
ing thus : " Your correspondent C. D. professes to undeceive," 
&c. mistaking even the initials of the vvrriter ; which had pro* 
bably become obliterated in the possession of Mr. Wilkes, or, 
perhaps from a slight inspection, they were not fully impressed 
upon the mind of the writer. 

It may be presumed that Mr. Home, as he made no stay in 
Paris on his journey to Italy, remained five or six weeks in that 
metropolis on his return. And while there, his time must have 
been very much occupied in paying his respects to the acquaint- 
ances he had made on his former visit, and in pointing out to his 
pupil the curiosities of the place. This alone can apologize 
for the awkward blunder committed in the beginning of the 
second letter of Poplicola. 

Mr. Home left Paris for England on the 25th of May, as 
appears by the date of his note to Mr. Wilkes, " transmitted to 
him on the morning of his departure ;" but he probably for- 
warded previously the letter which bears date the 28th ; for 
that is the date of its publication. Junius did not date his com- 
munications to the Public Advertiser, nor generally, his letters 
to Wilkes and Woodfall, as I shall hereafter prove. 

Nothing can justify the supposition that any person in Eng- 
land, conversant with passing events, should have broken out, 
in the manner of these letters, more than five months after the 
existence of the exciting cause. The writer must have been 
absent from England in Dec. 1766, and must, at the time of" 
writing, have taken his impulse from Mr, Wilkes. There can 
be no other solution to this enigma. 

The style of the first letter applies exactly to the condition of 
Mr. Home, who had just trod classic ground, and had, no doubt, 
lately read with his pupil the works of Livy, Tacitus, and 
other Roman classics. 

Mr. Heron, in his edition of Junius, remarks on a passage 
respecting the Praetorian Bands, in letter No. 35, addressed to 
The king, that " This is one among many passages which show 

17 



130 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 



that the writer of these letters was fresh from the perusal oi 
Tacitus. The period of Roman History to which he alludes, 
is that which ensued when Vitellius and the army from Ger- 
many, defeated the Praetorian guards that ravished the imperial 
power from Otho." 

I will now lay before the reader, for his consideration, the 
two letters before mentioned, as well as the two succeeding 
ones, published after Mr. Home's arrival in England. And, for 
their better understanding, I shall first give the letters of Wilkes 
and W. D. which Mr. Woodfall introduces in a note subjoined 
to the second letter of Poplicola. 

Letter from John Wilkes to the duke of Grafton. 

Paris, Dec. 12, 1766.* 

1 believe that the flinty heart of lord Chatham has known 
the sweets of private friendship, and the fine feelings of hu- 
manity, as little as even lord Mansfield. They are both formed 
to be admired not beloved. A proud, insolent, overbearing, 
ambitious man is always full of the ideas of his own importance, 
and vainly imagines himself superior to the equality necessary 
among real friends, in all the moments of true enjoyment. 
Friendship is too pure a pleasure for a mind cankered with am- 
bition, or the lust of power and grandeur. Lord Chatham 
declared in parliament the strongest attachment to lord Temple, 
one of the greatest characters our country could ever boast, 
and said he would live and die with his noble brother. He has 
received obligations of the first magnitude from that noble bro- 
ther, yet what trace of gratitude or of friendship was ever found 
in any part of his conduct ? and has he not now declared the 
most open variance, and even hostility ? I have had as v/arm 
and as express declarations of regard as could be made by this 
marble-hearted friend, and Mr. Pitt had no doubt his views in 
even feeding me with flattery from time to time ; on occasions 
too where candour and indulgence were all I could claim. He 



* The Philadelphia copy of WoodfalPs Junius erroneously gives the date of 
this letter, 1763. I have not had an opportunity to examine the London edition, 
~-^m. Ed. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 131 

may remember the compliments he paid me on two certain 
poems in the year 1754. If I were to take the declarations 
made by himself and the late Mr. Potter a la lettre, they were 
more charmed with those verses after the ninety-ninth reading, 
than after the first ; so thot from this circumstance, as well as 
a few of his speeches in parliament, it seems to be hkewise true 
Qf the first orator, or rather the first comedian, of our age, non 
displicuisse ill/ jocos; sed non contigisse. 

I will now submit to your grace, if there was not something 
peculiarly base and perfidious in Mr. Fitt's calling me a blasphe- 
mer of my God for those very verses, at a time when I was 
absent, and dangerously ill from an affair of honor. The charge 
too he knew was false, for the whole ridicule of those two 
pieces was confined to certain mysteries, which formerly the 
unplaced and unpensioned Mr. Pitt did not think himself obliged 
even to affect to believe. He added another charge equally 
unjust, that I was the libeller of my king, though he was sensible 
that I never wrote a single line disrespectful to the sacred per- 
son of my sovereign, but had only attacked the despotism of 
his ministers, with the spirit becoming a good subject, and 
zealous friend of his country.* The reason of tliis perfidy 
was plain. He was then beginning to pay homage to the Scot- 



* The following is an extract from the earl of Chatham's speech, in reference 
to Mr. Wilkes on the subject of parliamentary privileges, taken from Miller's 
history. This speech, Mr. Miller says, has been faithfully preserved : — 

" With regard to the papef itself, or the hbel which had given pretence for this 
request to surrender the privileges of parliament, he observed that the house had 
already voted it a Ubel — he joined in that vote. He condemned the whole series 
of North Britons : he called them illiberal, unmanly, and detestable. He abhor- 
red all national reflections. The king's subjects, he said, were mie people. Who- 
ever divided them, was guilty of sedition. His majesty's complaint was well 
founded : it was just : it was necessary. The author did not deserve to be ranked 
among the human species — he was the blasphemer of his God, and the libeller of 
his king. He had no connexion ^vith liim : he had no connexion with any such 
writer : he neither associated nor communicated with any such." — " The dignity, 
the honor of parliament had been called upon to support and protect the purity 
of his majesty's character ; and this they had done by a strong and decisive con- 
demnation of the libel which his majesty had submitted to the consideration of 
the house." — .4m. Edit. 



VA'Z SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

tish idol, and I was the most acceptable sacrifice he could offei' 
at the shrine of Bute. History scarcely gives so remarkable a 
change. He was a few years ago the mad, seditious tribune of 
the people, insulting his sovereign, even in his capital city, now 
he is the abject, crouching deputy of the proud Scot, who he 
declared in parliament wanted wisdom, and held principles in- 
compatible with freedom ; a most ridiculous character surely for 
a statesman, and the subject of a free kingdom, but the proper 
composition for di. favorite. Was it possible for nie after this to 
write a suppliant letter to lord Chatham ? I am the first to pro- 
noimce myself most unworthy of a pardon, if I could have 
obtained it on those terms. 

Although I declare, my lord, that the conscious pride of vir- 
tue makes me look down with contempt on a man, who could 
be guilty of this baseness, who could in the lobb) declare that I 
must be supported, and in the House on the same day desert 
and revile me, yet I will on every occasion do justice to the mi- 
nister. He has served the public in all those points, w^here the 
good of the nation coincided with his own private views ; and 
in no other. I venerate the memory of the secretary, and I 
think it an honor to myself that I steadily supported in parlia- 
ment an administration, the most successful we ever had, and 
which carried the glory of the nation to the highest pitch in 
every part of the world. He found his country almost in 
despair. He raised the noble spirit of England, and strained 
every nerve against our enemies. His plans, when in power, 
were always great, though in direct opposition to the declara- 
tions of his whole life, when out of power. The invincible 
bravery of the British troops gave success even to the most 
rash, the most extravagant, the most desperate of his projects. 
He saw early the hostile intentions of Spain, and if the written 
advice had been followed, a very few weeks had then probably 
closed the last general war ; although the merit of that advice 
was more the merit of his noble brother, than his own. After 
the omnipotence of lord Bute, in 1761, had forced Mr. Pitt to 
retire from his majesty's councils, and the cause was declared 
by himself to be our conduct relative to Spain, I had the hap- 
piness of setting that affair in so clear and advantageous a light. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKK. 133 

that lie expressed the most entire satisfaction, and particular 
obligations to my friendship. I do not, however, make this a 
claim of merit to Mr. Pitt. It was my duty, from the peculiar 
advantages of information I then had."* 

In answer to these strictures Sir William Draper in the let- 
ter subscribed W. D. and which is too long to be copied verba- 
tim, quotes several of Mr. Wilkes's previous declarations in 
favor of lord Chatham, while Mr. Pitt, and concludes as fol- 
lows : — 

" The letter asserts also that lord Chatham is now the abject, 
crouching deputy of lord Bute, who he declared in parliament 
wanted wisdom, and held principles incompatible with freedom. 
The world knows nothing of this abject, crouching deputed 
minister, but from Mr. Wilkes's single affirmation ; but all 
know that his Majesty has been pleased to call lord Chatham 



^ * CHARACTER OF LORD CHATHAM, 

From a Memoir of the Affairs of Europe, by lord John Russel. 
" He was a man endowed with qualities to captivate a nation, and subdue a 
popular assembly Bold and unhesitating in the part he was to take upon every 
public question, lie was the master of a loud but harmonious voice, a command- 
ing eye, an unrivalled energy, but at the same time propriety of language, and a 
light of imagination which flashed from him with brilliant splendor, and was 
gone ere any one could pronounce that the speaker was fanciful or digressive. 
Upon every important subject he appealed to some common and inspiring senti- 
ment : the feeling of national honor, disgust at poli' ical corruption, the care of 
popular libeiiy, contempt of artifice, or hatred of oppression. But, provided the 
topic were animating and effective, he little cared whether it were one on which 
a wise patriot could honestly dilate : a vulgar prejudice served his turn as well as 
an ancient and useful privilege : he countenanced every prevailing delusion : and 
hurried the nation to war,-not as a necessary evil, but as an honorable choice. 
Above all, he loved to nurse the popular jealousy of France : and it v/as upon his 
means of gratifying this feehng that he seemed to build his hopes of future power. 
Ever ready to be the mouth-piece of the cry or clamor of the hour he could be 
as inconsistent as the multitude itself: in his earlier days, when reproached with 
his change of opinion, he pleaded honest conviction of error : after he had acquired 
authority, he faced down his accusers with a glare of his eye and the hardihood 
of his denial. Nor, although he assumed a tone of virtue superior to his age, 
was he more scrupulous than others in poUtical intrigue : but his object was 
higher. Instead of bartering his conscience for a large salary or a share of 
patronage, he aimed at undivided power, the fame of a great orator, to be Ihe fear 
of every cabal, and the admiration of a whole people." — Am. Ed. 



134 SKETCH OP THE LIFE OF 

again to the ministry : if lord Bute supports liim in it, he gives 
the noblest proof of generosity and greatness of soul, and has 
revenged himself in the finest manner upon lord Chatham for 
those expressions, and affords the strongest proof that he does 
not vs^ant vdsdom, or hold principles incompatible w^ith freedom. 
What greater proof of wisdom can he give, than in supporting 
• that person who is the most capable of doing good to his coun- 
try, and has upon all occasions approved himself the most 
zealous protector of its liberties ? But I beg pardon ; upon a late 
occasion, indeed, lord Chatham showed himself to be no friend 
to liberty ; he was so very tyrannical, as well as lord Camden, 
that he denied some traders the right, liberty, and privilege of 
starving his fellow-citizens, by exporting all the corn out of the 
kingdom, for which he has met with his reward, and been as 
much abused as if he himself had been guilty of starving them. 
Is there no Tarpeian rock for such a tyi'ant ? 

Mr. Wilkes has now done with lord Chatham, leaving him to 
the poor consolation of a place, a peerage, and a pension ; for 
which, he says, he has sold the confidence of a great nation. 
But I cannot take leave of, or have done with Mr. Wilkes, 
without makmg a few observations upon this paragraph : Mr. 
Wilkes is a great jester ; in this place he cannot possibly be 
serious ; for as to the pension, I think I cannot explain it better 
to my countrymen, than in Mr. Wilkes's own words, August 
12, 1762 : 

' I must, in compliance with a few vulgar writers, call the 
inadequate reward given to Mr. Pitt, for as great services as 
ever were performed by a subject, a pension, although the grant 
is not during pleasure, and therefore cannot create any undue, 
unconstitutional influence. In the same light we are to con- 
sider the dukes of Cumberland's and Marlborough's, prince 
Ferdinand's, and admiral Hawke's, Mr. Onslow's, &c. &c. &c. 
I was going to call it the king's gold box ; for Mr. Pitt having 
before received the most obliging marks of regard from the 
public, the testimony of his sovereign only remained wanting.' 

Now as Mr. Wilkes has so fully set forth the nature of this pen- 
sion, I cannot think it will at all lessen the confidence of the 
nation in lord Chatham : it may very possibly lessen their confi- 



JOHN HORNK TOOK!:. 135 

dence in Mr. Wilkes, who has contradicted himself so furiously, 
and perhaps destroy that idea of consistency which the gentle- 
man boasts of in his letter to the duke of Grafton ; where he 
assures his grace, that ' however unfashionable such a declara- 
tion may be, consistency shall never depart from his character.' 
The reader has the proofs before him, and will judge of it 
accordingly. W. D." 



MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS OF JUNIUS. 
LETTER I. 

For the Public Advertiser. 

28 April, 1767. 

Dictatuia, quam in summis reipublicae angustiis acceperat, per pacem continuata 
libertatem fregit ; donee ilium conversus in rabiem populus, et dii ultores de 
saxo Tarpeio dejecerunt.* 

The bravest and freest nations have sometimes submitted to 
a temporary surrender of their liberties, in order to establish 
them for ever. At a crisis of public calamity or danger, the 
prudence of the state placed a confidence in the virtue of some 
distinguished citizen, and gave him power sufficient to preserve 
or to oppress his country. Such was the Roman dictator, and 
while his office was confined to a short period, and only applied 
as a remedy to the disasters of an unsuccessful war, it was 
usually attended with the most important advantages, and left 
no dangerous precedent behind. The dictator finding employ- 
ment for all his activity in repulsing a foreign invasion, had but 
little time to contrive the ruin of his own country, and his 
ambition was nobly satisfied by the honor of a triumph, and the 
applause of his fellow-citizens. But as soon as this wise institu- 
tion was corrupted, when that unlimited trust of power, which 
shouldhave beenreserved for conjunctures of more than ordinary 
difficulty and hazard, was without necessity committed to one 



* The Dictatorship, which had been confided to hira during a period of extreme 
peril to the republic, being continued to him after the peace, he abused it to the 
destruction of liberty, till the people turned upon him in their rage, and the aveng- 
ing gods precipitated hitn from the Tarpcian rock, — ,/lin. Edit. 



136 SKETCH OP THE LIFE OF 

man's uncertain moderation, what consequence could be 
expected but that the people should pay the dearest price for 
their o'mplicity, nor ever resume those rights which they could 
vainly imagine were more secure in the hands of a single man, 
than where the laws and constitution had placed them. With- 
out any uncommon depravity of mind, a mtm so trusted might 
lose all ideas of public principle or gratitude, and not unreason- 
ably exert himself to perpetuate a power, which he saw his 
fellow-citizens weak and abject enough to surrender to him. But 
if, instead of a man of a common mixed character, whose vices 
might be redeemed by some appearance of virtue and generosity, 
it should have unfortunately happened that a nation had placed 
all their confidence in a man purely and perfectly bad ; if a 
great and good prince, by some fatal delusion, had made choice 
of such a man for his first minister, and had delegated all his 
authority to him, what security would that nation have for its 
freedom, or that prince for his crown ? The history of every 
nation, that once had a claim to liberty, will tell us what would 
be the progress of such a traitor, and what the probable event 
of his crimes.* 

Let us suppose him arrived at that moment, at which he 
might see himself within reach of the great object, to which all 
the artifices, the intrigues, the hypocrisy, and the impudence 
of his past life were directed. On the point of having the whole 
power of the crown committed to him, what would be his 
conduct 1 an aifectation of prostrate humility in the closet, but 
a lordly dictation of terms to the people, by whose interest he 
had been supported, by whose fortunes he had subsisted. Has 
he a brother? that brother must be sacrificed.! Has he a 
rancorous enemy ? that enemy must be promoted.J Have 



* This severe invective is aimed againgt the late lord Chatham, formerly the 
right honorable W. Pitt.— E(Z. 

t Lord Temple, brother-in-law to lord Chatham. They resigned their respective 
ottices, the former of privy seal, and the latter of principal secretary of state, in 
October 1765. Lord Temple was succeeded by the duke of Bedford ; and upon 
his resignation, by lord Chatham himself: during which administration lord 
Temple took no part whatever. 

■ The duke of Bedford. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 137 

years ot his life been spent in declaiming against the pernicious 
influence of a favorite ? That favorite must be taken to his 
bosom, and made the only partner of his power.* But it is in 
the natural course of things that a despotic pow^er, which of 
itself violates every principle of a free constitution, should be 
acquired by means, which equally violate every principle of 
honor and morality. The office of a grand Vizir is inconsistent 
with a limited monarchy, and can never subsist long but by its 
destruction. The same measures, by which an abandoned 
profligate is advanced to power, must be observed to maintain 
him in it. The principal nobility, who might disdain to submit 
to the upstart insolence of a dictator, must be removed from 
every post of honor and authority ; all public employments must 
be filled with a despicable set of creatures, who having neither 
experience nor capacity, nor any weight or respect in their own 
persons, will necessarily derive all their little busy importance 
from him. As the absolute destruction of the constitution of 
his country would be his great object, to be consistent with 
that design he must exert himself to wealcen and impoverish 
every rank and order of the community, which by the nature of 
their property, and the degree of their wealth, might have a 
particular interest in the support of the established government, 
as well as power to oppose any treacherous attempts against it. 
The landed estate must be oppressed ; the rights of the mer- 
chant must be arbitrarily invaded, and his property forced from 
him by main force, without even the form of a legal proceed- 
ing. It will assist him much, if he can contribute to the destruc 
tion of the poor by continuing the most burthensome taxes 
upon the main articles of their subsistence. He must also take 
advantage of any favorable conjuncture to try how far the nation 
will bear to see the established laws suspended by proclamation, 
and upon such occasions he must not be without an apostate 
lawyer, weak enough to sacrifice his own character, and base 
enough to betray the laws of his country, f 

* Lord Bute.— Erf. 

t This subject is fully explained in many parts of the letters of Junius, and in 
the notes now subjoined to them. The character alluded to is ear! Camden; at, 
That time lord Chancellor. — Ed. 

18 



V6^ SKETCH OF THE LIFE OK 

These are but a few of the pernicious practices by which a 
traitor may be known, by which a free people may be enslaved. 
But the masterpiece of his treachery, and the surest of answer- 
ing all his purposes would be, if possible, to foment such discord 
between the mother-country and her colonies, as may leave 
them both an easier prey to his own dark machinations. With 
this patriotic view he will be ready to declare himself the patron 
of sedition, and a zealous advocate for rebellion. His doctrines 
will correspond with the proceedings of the people he protects, 
anc -f by his assistance they can obtain a victory over the 
supreme legislature of the empire, he will consider that victory 
as an important step towards the advancement of liis main 
design.* 

Such, Sir, in any free state, would probably be the conduct 
and character of a man unnecessarily trusted with exorbitant 
power. He must either succeed in establishing a tyranny or 
perish. I cannot without horror suppose it possible that this 
our native country,^ should ever be at the mercy of so black a 
villain. But if the case should happen hereafter, I hope the 
British people will not be so abandoned by Providence, as not 
to open their eyes time enough to save themselves from 
destruction; and though we have no Tarpeian rock for the 
immediate punishment of treason, yet we have impeachments, 
and a gibbet is not too honorable a situation for the carcass of 
a traitor. Poplicola. 

LETTER n. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

28 May, 1767. 

Sir, — ^Your correspondent C. D.J professes to undeceive the 



* Lord Chatham, tlien Mr. Pitt, opposed Mr. George Grenville's Stamp Act, and 
denied the right of the parliament of Great Britain to legislate for America. — Ed. 

t This language indicates a writer who had lately visited foreign countries, 
where he had witnessed despotic rule, and returning to liis own land, jealous of 
its liberties, thought he discovered symptoms of approaching tyranny. — Am, Ed. 

\ Poplicola, the writer of this reply, by some means or other mistook the real 
signature, which instead of being C. D. was W. D. The letter is dated frem 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 139 

public with respect to some reflections thrown out upon the 
earl of Chatham in Mr. Wilkes's letter to the duke of Grafton. 
Without undertaking the defence of that gentleman's conduct 
or character, permit me to obsei've that he was the instrument, 
and an useful one to the party, therefore should not have been 
sacrificed by it. He served them perhaps with too much zeal ; 
but such is the reward, which the tools of faction usually receive, 
and in some measure deserve, when they are imprudent enough 
to hazard every thing in support of other men's ambition. 

I cannot admit, that because Mr. Pitt was respected and 
honored a few years ago, the earl of Chatham therefore deserves 
to be so now ; or that a description, which might have suited 
him at one part of his life, must of necessity be the only one 
applicable to him at another. It is barely possible, that a very 
honest commoner may become a very corrupt and worthless 
peer ; and I am inclined to suspect that Mr. C. D. will find but 
few people credulous enough to believe that either Mr. Pitt or 
Mr. Pultney, when they accepted of a title, did not, by that 
action, betray their friends, their country, and, in every honora- 
ble sense, themselves. Mr. C. D. wilfully misrepresents the 
cause of that censure, which was very justly thrown upon lord 
Chatham, when the exportation of corn was prohibited by pro- 
clamation. The measure itself was necessary, and the more 



Clifton, and is obviously from the pen of Sir W. Draper ; affording a singular 
proof that the Knight of the Bath and Junius were political opponents under sig- 
natures mutually unknown, and so far back as May 1767. — Ed. 

Mr. Woodfall makes no remarks upon the gross absurdity in the manner of 
commencing this letter in answer to one -written five months before. He was 
fearful to say any thing about it, lest he should expose the author. There can be 
no other reason given for his silence in this case, for he is in general extremely 
liberal of explanatory notes throughout the work. 

The circumstance reminds me of a gentleman who was fond of relating long 
stories, and who, upon a certain occasion was interrupted in his narrative by the 
sudden departure of the person to whom he was reciting ; but on meeting the 
same gentleman again, some twelvemonth afterwards, he renewed the subject by 
prefacing it with, " as I was saying," and then went on to conclude the story. — 
.im. Edit. 



140 SKETCH Ol' THK LIFE OF 

necessary from the scandalous delay of the mmistry in calling 
the parliament together ; but to maintain that the proclamation 
was legal, and that there was a suspending power lodged in the 
crown, was such an outrage to the common sense of mankind, 
and such a daring attack upon the constitution, as a free people 
ought never to forgive. The man who maintained those doc- 
trines, ought to have have had the Tarpeian rock or a gibbet 
for his reward. Another gentleman, upon that occasion, had 
spirit and patriotism enough to declare, even in a respectable 
assembly, that when he advised the proclamation, he did it with 
the strongest conviction of its being illegal ; but he rested his 
defence upon the unavoidable necessity of the case, and sub- 
mitted himself to the judgment of his country. This noble 
conduct deserved the applause and gratitude of the nation, 
while that of the earl of Chatham, and his miserable under- 
sitrappers, deserved nothing but detestation and contempt. 

PoPLICOLA. 
LETTER III. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

24 June, 1767. 

Accedere inatiem muliebri impotentia ; serviendum feminae, duobusque insuper 
nebulonibus, qui rempublicam interim premant, quandoque distrahant. — Taci- 
tus, \^ Annalium.* 

The uncertain state of politics in this country sets all the spe- 
culations of the press at defiance.f To talk of modern minis- 
ters, or to examine their conduct, would be to reason without 



'■■■ To these reflections the pubUc added their dread of a mother, raging with all 
the impotence of female ambition : a whole people, they said, were to be enslaved 
by a woman and two young men, who in the beginning would hang heavy on the 
state, and in the end distract and rend it to pieces by their own dissensions. — 
Murphy's Translation. — ^m. Ed. 

I Mr. Home, in a letter to Junius, says, " Whatever may be the wretched state 
of pohticsin this counti-y," &c. This passage and the one above evidently appear 
to be dictated by the same mind ; they exactly agree in sentiment, and the simili- 
tude in the language could not w^ell be avoided in expressing the same idea> 
There is no appearance of plagiarism. — .^m. Ed. 



TOHN IIOKNE TOOKL'. 141 

data ; for whether it be owing to the real simple innocence of 
doing nothing, or to a happy mysterioiisness in concealing their 
activity, we know as little of the services they have performed, 
since it became their lot to appear in the gazette, as we did of 
their persons or characters before. They seem to have come 
together by a sort of fortuitous concourse, and have hitherto 
done nothing else but jumble and jostle one another, without 
being able to settle into any one regular or consistent figure. 
I am not, however, such an atheist in politics as to suppose that 
there is not somewhere an original creating cause, which drew 
these atoms forth into existence ; but it seems the utmost skill 
and cunning of that secret governing hand could go no fai'ther. 
To create or foment confusion, to sacrifice the honour of a king, 
or to destroy the happiness of a nation, requires no talent, but 
a natural itch for doing mischief. We have seen it performed 
for years successively, with a wantonness of triumph, by a man 
who had neither abilities nor personal interest, nor even com- 
mon personal courage.* It has been possible for a notorious 
coward, skulking under a petticoat, to make a great nation the 
prey of his avarice and ambition. But I trust the time is not 
very distant when we shall see him dragged forth from his 
retirement, and forced to answer severely for all the mischiefs 
he hath brought upon us. 

It is worth while to consider, though perhaps not safe to 
point out, by what arts it hath been possible for him to main- 
tain himself so long in power, and to screen liimself from 
national justice. Some of them have been obvious enough ; 
the rest may without difficulty be guessed at. But whatever 
they are, it is not above a twelvemonth ago, since they might 
have all been defeated, and the venomous spider itself caught 
and trampled on in its ovm webs.f It was then his good for- 



* The earl of Bute.— Erf. 

t Why was it not then done ? Junius was absent I'rom his country. The lan- 
guage conveys this idea fully. If Junius had been present and saw the corrup- 
tion going on, he would undoubtedly have attacked it at the time, and not have 
remained silent, and then say, a twelvemonth afterwards, as above, that the arts 
ofthermnister which had produced the evil ww'gAt have been defeated. — Am. Ed. 



142 SKETCH OP THE LIFE Of 

tune to corrupt one man, from whom we least of all expected 
so base an apostacy.* Who indeed could have suspected, that 
it should ever consist with the spirit or understanding of that 
person to accept of a share of power under a pernicious court 
minion, whom he himself had affected to detest or despise, as 
much as he knew he was detested and despised by the whole 
nation ? I will not censure him for the avarice of a pension, 
nor the melancholy ambition of a title. These were objects 
which he perhaps looked up to, though the rest of the world 
thought them far beneath his acceptance. But, to become the 
stalking-horse of a stallion, to shake hands with a Scotchman 
at the hazard of catching all his infamy ; to fight under his aus- 
pices against the constitution ; and to receive the word from 
him, prerogative and a thistle ; (by the once respected name of 
Pitt) it is even below contempt. But it seems that this unhappy 
country had long enough been distracted by their divisions, and 
in the last instance was to be oppressed by their union. May 
that union, honorable as it is, subsist for ever ! may they con- 
tinue to smell at one thistle, and not be separated even in death ! 

Anti-Sejamjs, jun, 

letter iv. 
To tJie Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

St. James's Coffee-house, 25 Aug. 1767. 

Sir, — I have been some time in the comitry, which has pre- 
vented your hearing sooner from me.f I find you and your 
brother printers have got greatly into a sort of knack of stufling 
your papers with flummery upon two certain brothers,^ who 
are labor-in-vain endeavoring to force themselves out of the 
world's contempt. I have great good will to you, and hope you 



^ The earl of Chatham.— Erf. 

I Attending to his parochial affairs at Brentford ; which, from his long absence, 
probably required more than usual care. — Am. Ed. 

I Lord Townshend, and his brother the honorable Charles Townshend, the 
former just appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland, and the latter at this time chan- 
cellor of the exchequer. — Ed. 



JOHN HOKXE TOOKE. 143 

are well paid for this sort of nonsense, as indeed you ought to 
be, for it certainly disgraces your paper. It is in vain that your 
friends assure the coffee-house that these things are wrote by 
the brothers themselves ; that you believe no more of them 
than the rest of the world does ; and that you only put them in 
to show your extreme impartiality, which sometimes obliges 
you to insert the most improbable stories ; I would therefore 
advise you as a friend, to give up this noble pair as enfans 
perdus. 

I am not a stranger to this j9«r nohile fratrum. I have served 
under the one, and have been forty times promised to he served 
by the other. I don't think it possible to characterise either 
without having recourse to the other ; but any body who knows 
one of them, may easily obtain an idea of the other. Thus 
now ; suppose you acquainted with the chancellor, take away 
his ingenuity, and a something, that at times looks something 
like good-nature, but it is not, and you have tlie direct and actual 
character of the peer ; a boaster without spirit, and a pretender 
to wit without a grain of sense ; in a word, a vainglorious idler 
without one single good quality of head or heart. I hope his 

affairs with Lord and Mr. are the only instances of 

his setting out with unnecessary insolence, and ending with 
shameful tameness. But is such a man likely to please the 
brave Irish, whose hasty tempers, or whose blunders, may 
sometimes lead them into a quarrel ; but whose swords always 
carry them through it ? Are these the pair, who are to give 
stability to a wavering favorite, and permanency to a locum 
tenens administration ? Alas ! alas ! 

Non tali anxilio, nee defensoribus istis 
Tempus eget : * 

And is it by such a prop that Grafton thinks to stand, after 
throwing down his idol Pitt, at whose false altar he had before 
sacrificed his friends ? Is it for such a man that Conway fore- 
goes the connexions of his youth, and the friends of his best 
and ripest judgment ? A Faithful Monitor. 



* If is not such aid, nor such defenders that the times require. — .■Jm. Ed. 



144 SKETCH OF THK LIFE OF 

Circumstances related by Junius respecting himself, that do 
not appear improbable, are worthy of notice so far as they 
tend to indicate the person of the author. Such are the remarks 
in the foregoing letter in regard to his connexion with the 
Townshends. 

In the first place, it may be observed, (see Bissett's History 
of George III.) that on the resignation of lord Bute, the honor- 
able George Grenville, brother of lord Temple, became prime 
minister — April 16, 1763. He was dismissed in May, 1765. 

Mr. Bissett, speaking of the debates in parliament respecting 
the Stamp Act, observes, " Ministers had now (Feb. 1765) 
acquired a powerful auxiliary in the briUiant ingenuity of Mr. 
Charles Townshend, who had lately come over to their side." 

Mr. Grenville was succeeded by the marquis of Rocking- 
ham ; whose administration was of short continuance, being 
dissolved about the middle of 1766. A new administration 
was then formed by Mr. Pitt ; of which the duke of Grafton, 
who had been secretary of state in the mai'quis of Rocking- 
ham's administration, was made first lord of the treasury, and 
general Conway, another member of the whig party, was con- 
tinued secretary of state ; his colleague was the earl of Shel- 
burne. Mr. Charles Townshend, recently a member of the 
Grenville party, was appointed chancellor of the exchequer ; 
lord chief justice Pratt created lord Camden, was made chan- 
cellor, and the earl of Northington president of the council ; 
and Mr. Pitt himself took the privy seal. He was now called 
to the upper house, under the title of the earl of Chatham ; but 
his acceptance of a peerage lessened his popularity. 

Some changes in the cabinet were made in the recess of 
parliament, in 1767. Lord Gower accepted the president's 
chciir, now resigned by the earl of Northington ; and in conse- 
quence of the decease of Charles Townshend, lord North was 
promoted to his place as chancellor of the exchequer. 

Mr. Bissett, in treating of measures which took place in 
Sept. 1766, says, " The opposition of the present ministry con- 
sisted of two parties, the Grenville and the Rockingham. A 
coalition was attempted between the former and the ministry, 
but without effect. Meanwhile Charles Townshend was 



lOliN HOllNE TOOKE. 



m 



intriguing with the Rockingham party, and trying to eftect the 
removal of the duke of Grafton ; and, though he did not suc- 
ceed, the administration was evidently discordant. Lord Chat- 
ham, on account of the bad state of his health, could not control, 
as formerly, the jarring elements." 

The following character of Mr. Townshend is given by Mr. 
Bissett : 

" Although a man of genius, he appears to have been rather 
more fit for literary than political attainments, or much more 
anxious about currency of opinions than their weight ; he was 
extremely inconstant. When the Stamp Act was popular in 
the house, he declaimed in its favor ; when it lost its popularity, 
he voted for the repeal ; and when the repeal was afterwards 
a subject of complaint, he proposed a new plan for raising a 
revenue. He took no time to form general and comprehensive 
views, and had no fixed principles of policy. As an orator, he 
was an ornament to the house of commons ; but must have 
entirely changed his modes and habits, before he could be a 
very advantageous accession to the councils of his country as 
a principal statesman." 

Under this gentleman, I apprehend, Mr. Home served in 
1765, in support of the Grenville administration, if not also in 
opposition to the Rockingham ; and had " been forty times pro- 
mised to be served by" his brother, lord Townshend. For it is 
stated in his memoirs by Mr. Stephens, that, " by the kind inter- 
vention of Mr. Levintz, apparently exerted through the channel 
of a nobleman in high favor at court, he was promised to be 
appointed one of the king's chaplains ; and had a prospect of 
such other preferment as was sufficient to satisfy his wishes." 
(See p. 110, this volume.) 

That Mr. Home must have zealously supported some admi- 
nistration is evident from the expression of Junius in his letter 
of July 9, 1771, viz: "Mr. Home's new zeal in support of 
administration." He certainly never supported any adminis- 
tration except it were that of the Grenville. No commentator on 
the letters of Junius has attempted an explanation of the above 
remark. Woodfall is silent upon it, for reasons before stated ; 
or rather he endeavors to draw off the attention of the reader 

10 



146 SKETCH OP THE LIFE OI 

from its import, by saying in a note, that " Home had long zeal 
ously fought on the side of the stanchest Whigs, and was an 
active member of the society for the support of the Bill of 
Rights, which had just discharged Wilkes's debts," &c. What 
had all this to do with the support of a particular administration ? 
The Grenville, the Rockingham, and the Grafton administra- 
tions all pretended to whigism. 

Mr. Home's violent philippic against the government, but 
more particularly against lords Bute and Mansfield, entitled 
" The Petition of an Englishman," was published in 1765 ; but 
it must have been after the dismissal of Mr. Grenville, 

Although lord Bute was not in office at this time, yet, it is 
stated by Mr. Miller, in his history of this period, that " Since 
the earl of Bute's retirement from public business, the agents 
of faction (as he calls them) had been indefatigable in their 
endeavors to make the multitude believe, that no important 
measure was determined upon by government without his pri- 
vate advice ; and that his successors in office were but nominal 
substitutes, or rather mere puppets exhibited on the stage, while 
he stood behind the curtain managing the wires that regulated 
all their motions. The gi-eat popular speakers in both houses 
of parliament took care to countenance, and, as far as they 
were able, to strengthen those reports by frequent insinuations 
of a secret influence." 

Having made the foregoing digi'ession, and the " North Bri- 
ton" being alluded to by lord Chatham and Mr. Wilkes, and as 
No. 45 of the series, in consequence of the notice taken of it 
by the government, became a document of very considerable 
importance at the time, and is now often spoken of, I will here 
give an abstract of it ; in which will be included the passages 
to which objections were made in the Information filed in the 
King's Bench, by the attorney general against the publisher, Mr, 
George Kearsly. 

THE NORTH BRITON— No. 45. 

April 23, 1762. 
[The I'ollowing advertisement appeared in all the papers on the 13th of April - 
The Nortli Briton makes his appeal to the good sense, and to the candonr of the 



JOHN HORNB TOOKE. 



147 



English nation. In the present unsettled and fluctuating state of the administra- 
tion, he is really fearful of falling into involnntary errors, and he does not wish to 
mislead. All his reasonings have been built on the strong foundation of facts ; 
and he is not yet informed of the whole interior state of government with such 
minute precision, as now to venture the submitting his crude ideas of the present 
political crisis to the discerning and impartial puhlic. The Scottish minister* 
has indeed retired. Is lus influence at an end ? or does he still govern by the 
three wretched tools of his power,t who, to their indelible infamy, have supported 
the most odious of his measures, the late ignominious Peace, and the wicked 
extension of the arbitrary mode of Excise? The North Briton has been steady 
in his opposition to a single, insolent, incapable, despotic minister ; and is equally 
ready, in the service of his country, to combat the triple-headed Cerberean admin- 
istration, if the Scot is to assume that motley form. By him every arrangement 
to this hour has been made, and the notification has been as regularly sent by 
letter under his hand. It therefore seems clear to a demonstration, that he 
intends only to retire into that situation, which he held before he first took the 
seals ; I mean the dictating to every part of the king's administration. The 
North Bnton desires to be understood, as having pledged himself a firm and 
intrepid assertor of the rights of his fellow-subjects, and of the hberties of 
Whigs and Englishmen.] 

Genus orationis atrox, et vehemens, cui opponitur lenitatis et mansuetudinis. 

Cicero. 

" The king's speech has always been considered by the legis- 
lature, and by the public at large, as the speech of the minister. 
It has regularly, at the beginning of every session of parliament, 
been referred by both houses to the considerationof a committee, 
and has been generally canvassed with the utmost freedom, when 
the minister of the crown has been obnoxious to the nation. The 
ministers of this free country, conscious of the undoubted pri- 
vileges of so spirited a people, and with the terrors of parlia- 
ment before their eyes, have ever been cautious, no less with 
regard to the matter, than to the expressions, of speeches, which 
they have advised the sovereign to make from the throne, at the 
opening of each session. They well knew that an honest house 
of parliament, true to their trust, could not fail to detect the 
fallacious arts, or to remonstrate against the daring acts of vio- 
lence, committed by any minister. The speech at the close of 
the session has ever been considered as the most secure method 



* Earl of Bute. 

t The earls of Egremont and Halifax, and G. Grenville, E?q, 



(4S SKETCH OF THE Llfli OF 

of promulgating the favorite court creed among the vulgar ; 
because the parliament, which is the constitutional guardian of 
the liberties of tlie people, has in this case no opportunity of 
remonstrating, or of impeaching any wicked servant of the 
crown. 

" This week has given the public the most abandoned instance 
of ministerial effrontery ever attempted to be imposed on man- 
kind. The minister's speech of last Tuesday, is not to be paral- 
leled in the annals of this country. I am in doubt, whether the 
imposition is greater on the sovereign, or on the nation. Every 
triend of his country must lament that a prince of so many 
great and amiable qualities, whom England truly reveres, can 
be brought to give the sanction of his sacred name to the most 
odious measures, and to the most unjustifiable public declara- 
tions, from a throne ever renowned for truth, honor, and un- 
sullied virtue. I am sure all foreigners, especially the king of 
Prussia, will hold the minister in contempt and abhorrence. 
He has made our sovereign declare, " My expectations have 
been fully answered by the happy effects which the several 
allies of my crown have derived from this salutary measure of 
the definitive Treaty ; the powers at war with my good bro- 
ther, the king of Pi'ussia, have been induced to agree to such 
terms of accommodation, as that great prince has approv- 
ed ; and the success which has attended my negociation, has 
necessarily and immediately diffused the blessings of peace 
through every part of Europe." The infamous fallacy of this 
whole sentence is apparent to all mankind : for it is known, 
that the king of Prussia did not barely approve, but absolutely 
dictated, as conqueror, every article of the terms of peace. No 
advantage of any kind has accrued to that magnanimous prince 
from our negociations, but he was basely deserted by the Scot- 
tish prime minister of England. He was known by every court 
in Europe to be scarcely on better terms of friendship here, 
than at Vienna; and he was betrayed by us in the treaty of peace. 
What a strain of insolence, therefore, is it in a minister to lay 
claim to what he is conscious all his efforts tended to prevent, 
and meanly to arrogate to himself a shai-e in the fame and glory 
of one of the greatest princes the world has ever seen ? 



JOHN IIORNE TOOKE. 149 

•• In vain will such a minister, or the foul dregs of liis power, 
the tools of corruption and despotism, preach up in the speech 
that spirit of concord, and that obedience to the laws, which is 
essential to good order. They have sent the spirit of discord 
tliiough the land, and I will prophecy that it will never be ex- 
tinguished, but by the extinction of their power. Is the spirit 
of concord to go hand in hand with the peace and excise tlu'ough 
this nation? Is it to be expected between an insolent exciseman, 
and B. peer, gentleman, freeholder, ox farmer, ^hos,e private houses 
are now made liable to be entered and searched at pleasure ? 
Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and in general all the cider 
counties, are not surely the several counties which are alluded to 
in the speech. The spirit of concord hath not gone forth among 
them ; but the spirit of liberty has, and a noble opposition has 
been given to the wicked instruments of oppression. A nation 
as sensible as the English, will see that a spirit of concord, when 
they are oppressed, means a tame submission to injury, and that 
a spirit of liberty ought then to arise, and I am sure ever will, 
in proportion to the weight of the grievance they feel. Every 
legal attempt of a contrary tendency to the spirit of concord will 
be deemed a justifiable resistance, warranted by the spirit of 
the English constitution." 



CHAPTER IX. 

FROM 1768 TO 1769. 



Account of Mr. Home's exertions to bringto justice the murderers 
of Allen, Bigby, and George Clarke. — His interference in the 
affair of John Doyle, and John Valline. — Comparison of his 
conduct with that of Junius in the foregoing cases. 

Mr. Horne returned to England during the summer of 1767; 
and leaving the young gentleman committed to his care at the 
paternal mansion, he repaired to his vicarage, and resumed 
his former course of life. Having previously resumed his 
black coat, he proceeded as before to discharge the various 
functions attached to his office : which during his absence. 



150 SKETCH OP THE LIFE OF 

had been ably supplied by a curate. He had now held the 
chapelry of Brentford during a period of seven years, and was 
greatly respected by all around him, not only on account of 
his moral, but his companionable qualities, of both which, all 
men either are, or pretend to be judges, while his singular talents 
hitherto undeveloped to the public at large, were only unveiled 
to a few who knew how to admire and appreciate them. 

The well known politician with whom he had become 
acquainted at Paris, in 1767, most unexpectedly offered himself 
about this period,* as a candidate for the county of Middlesex. 
Although the minister of Brentford was not ignorant of the 
vices of that celebrated character, yet he well knew how to 
distinguish between him and his cause : against the former, he 
was constantly on his guard ; while in respect to the latter, he 
had always been favorable to it, and that too in no ordinary 
degree. Of his talents and intrepidity he was well assured, and 
by this time, he was not so ignorant of the world, as either to 
hope or expect that no one except a man of an immaculate 
character, should enter the forum as an advocate for popular 
rights.f 

In May, 1768, a riot took place in St. George's Fields, and 
the mihtary being called in, a young man of the name of Allen, 
who was afterwards proved to be an innocent and distant 
spectator, was unhapoily put to death. Mr. Gillam, a magistrate 
who had given the orders to fire, was afterwards tried for his 
life, and on his acquittal, a copy of the indictment was granted 
him by the court, in express opposition, however, to the opinion 
of Mr. justice Gould, one of the judges who presided. 

On these, as on all similar occasions, Mr. Home repeatedly 
exposed his hfe to collect the witnesses, secure the supposed 
murderers, and bring the authors and actors to justice. He was 
at first promised by the party in opposition, that a parliamentary 
inquiry should take place in respect to that transaction ; and in 



* In March, 1768.— .3»i. Edit. 

t Hero follows a long account of Mr. Wilkes's electioneering campaign in 
Middlesex, which is sufficiently detailed in the letters of Home to Wilkes, which 
will hereafter appear. 



JOlHN HORNE TOOKE. 151 

Consequence of their intended intervention, forbore to publish 
the particulars, contenting himself with merely stating a few 
facts to the freeholders of the county, assembled at the Mile- 
End assembly-room. It was he, also, who supported the widow 
Bigby in " the appeal of blood," against the murderers of her 
husband. Being aware, from his knowledge of the ancient 
laws, that in a case of this kind, the king's pardon, which had 
been lately pleaded, could be of no avail, he retained Mr. 
Dunning at his own expense ; but so novel was the practice, 
and so many the obstacles thrown in the way of that great 
advocate by the lord chief justice of the King's Bench, that it 
was found almost impossible to proceed.* 

He also, nearly at the same time, interposed to bring Edward 
M'Quirk, a chairman of notorious bad character (who had been 
hired during the election at Brentford,) to justice, for the 
murder of George Clarke ; but, although he was convicted of 
the crime by the verdict of a jury, yet the ministers were pre- 
vailed upon to grant a free pardon to the offender. On this occa- 
sion, Mr. John Foot, a surgeon, deposed, that the blow given 
had proved fatal to the deceased, and afterwards published an 
able pamphlet on this subject, which obtained him great credit ; 
but I have since discovered by an original document, that 
although the chirurgical facts proceeded from his pen, yet that, 
with this exception alone, the whole of that very popular pro- 
duction was written by this zealous partisan of popular rights. 

Nor did his intrepidity on this occasion prove less conspicu- 
ous than his talents. Thinking there might be some difficulty 
in obtaining a warrant from the magistrates to apprehend the 
rioters during the election at Brentford, he determined to effect 
his purpose by means of the constable of the night alone. 
Accordingly, accompanied only by that officer, he actually seized 
those who had participated in the murder of Clarke, while they 
were assembled at an ale-house in the neighbourhood of Covent 
Garden, although one of them on account of his gigantic figure. 



* Mr. Stephens here subjoins in a note, an account of the murder of John 
Bigby, by two brothers of the name of Kennedy ; the purport of which is siv.-^n 
In G. Woodfall's Junius, which I shall soon copy, — 



\5'2 SKETCH OP THE LIFE OI 

had been ironically denominated "the infant," and, notwithstand- 
ing liquor had been freely distributed, made them prisoners.* 

An event occurred about this period, which serves to show 
that the subject of these memoirs, had already turned his atten- 
tion to some of the most abstruse and difficult questions con- 
nected with the theory and practice of English jurisprudence. 

In 1769, when his friends the aldermen Townshend and 
Sawbridge, happened to be sheriffs of London and Middlesex, 
sentence was passed at the Old Bailey, on John Doyle and John 
Valline, two Spital Fields weavers, who had been capitally con- 
victed in the foUowmg words : " You, the prisoners at the bar, 
shall be taken from hence to the place from whence you came, 
and from thence to the usual place of execution ; where you 
. are to be severally hanged by the neck till you are dead, and 
may God Almighty be merciful to your souls." On Thursday 
the 9th of November, Mr., afterwards Sir James Eyre, the 
recorder, issued an order for their execution, in which he 
departed from the tenor of his former judgment, by means of 
the following additional clause, tending to aggravate the punish'- 
ment : 

" And whereas it hath been duly signified to me, that it is his 
jnajestj/s pleasure, that the said sentence be executed in the 
most convenient place, near Bethnal Green Church.inthe county 
of Middlesex : now it is hereby ordered, that the execution of 
the said sentence be made and done upon them, the said Jolm 
Doyle and John Valline, on Wednesday the 15th day of this 
instant November ; at the most convenient place near Bethnal 
Green Church, in the said county of Middlesex." 

No sooner was Mr. Home acquainted with this circumstance, 
than he condemned the alteration as a palpable deviation from 
the sentence, and not only denounced every variance on the 
part of the executive as illegal, but actually mamtained that 
a literal obedience to the warrant would incur the guilt of 
murder.f 

* Here follows an account of Mr. Home's difference with the duke of Bedford 
which will be fully commented upon hereafter. 

i This was probably founded on the opinion of lord Coke, who observes, '• the 
judgment doth belong to the judge, and he cannot alter it; and the execution 
belongs to the sheriff, and he cannot alter it." 



lOHN HORNE TOOKE. 153 

The sheriffs startled at an assertion of so singular an import, 
proceeding from the hps of a man already considered as a great 
constitutional authority, determined to take the best possible 
advice on this subject ; and a case was accordingly stated for 
the opinion of Mr. sergeant Glynn. This, which is short and 
simple, appears to have been either drawn tip with the privity 
or penned by Mr Home himself.* 

On November 30th, it was notified in an official letter, that 
the judges were of opinion, " that the time and place of execu- 
tion are in law no part of the judgment ; and that the recorder's 
warrant was a lawful authority to the sheriffs, as to the time 
and place of execution." 

On this the sheriffs complained to the lord chancellor, of a 
" naked opinion," on the part of the judges ; and lament, " that 
their doubts are overruled without being satisfied." They, 
however, at length complied, and the two prisoners were ac- 
cordingly executed, at Betlmal Green, Dec. 6, 1769, by the 
civil power alone, as the sheriffs refused to accept of any mili- 
tary assistance whatsoever. From this moment, however, the 
mode of passing sentence has been altered, so as to accord with 
the objections before stated, and prevent any variation between 
the judgment and the order for execution. 

Mr. Home afterwards published the particulars of this 
transaction, under the title of " Genuine Copies of all the Let- 
ters which passed between the lord Chancellor and the Sheriffs 
of London and Middlesex, &c. relative to the execution of 
Doyle and Vallinef ." 



* Here are giveu the opinion of Mr. Glynn, and the letters which passed 
between lord Gamden, then chancellor, and the sherifli upon this subject. 

t Printed for R. Davis, in Piccadilly, 1770, with the following motto : 
" In rebus novis constituendis, 
Aut urgens necessitas aut evidens utilitas."* 

We feel not the one, we see not the other. 

Sir F. Bacon's Q,uotation and Comment. 



In establishing new imliliilioas, there should lie cither urgent necessity or ohvious iitilitv. — Am. Kdit, 

90 



154 .SKETCH OF IHE LIPK OF 

Such of these papers, as were written by Mr. Home, (and 
there is reason to suppose that he either penned or dictated all 
such as were subscribed with the names of the two city magis- 
trates,) abound with able, learned, and sententious remarks. 
The notes too, are at once recondite and curious. Both will 
be prized by those whose studies have been directed to consti- 
tutional investigations, on account of their respective merits ; 
and while the lawyer may be inclined to praise them for their 
research, the logician must at the same time be pleased with the 
order, skill, and ingenuity of the arguments. 



It will, no doubt, be satisfactory to the reader to see how 
exactly Home and Junius concur in sentiment ; how these con- 
genial spirits — idem et alter — labored together for the obtain- 
ment of the same end ; who, if they possessed two bodies, 
were certainly actuated by the same principles and soul. 

In regard to the affair of St. George's Fields, the reader is 
referred to extracts before made respecting lord Barrington's 
conduct in this case, p. 56, this volume ; and also to Junius's 
letters, No. 37. In addition to which I transcribe No. 24, of 
his miscellaneous letters : 

To ike Printer of the Public Advertise^. 

19 May, 1768. 

Sir^ — An officer of the guards on whose veracity I can rely, 
has informed me, that the secretary at war has thought proper 
to write a letter of thanks to the commanding officer of the 
troops lately employed in St. George's Fields.* The substance 



* As this letter is frequently alluded to by Junius in the course of the present 
work, we shall here insert a copy of it : — 

War Office, 11 May, 1768. 

Sir, — Having this day had the honor of mentioning to the king the behavior 
of the detachments from the several battalions of foot-guards which have been 
lately employed in assisting the civil magistrates, and preserving the public peace, 
I have great pleasure in informing you, that his majesty highly approved of the 
conduct of both the officers and men, and means that his majesty's approbation 
should be communicated to them through you. Employing the troops on so dis- 



JOHN HORNE TOOKK. 



155 



of it, as well as I can remember, Is rather of an extraordinary 
nature, and I think deserves the attention and consideration of 
the public. I understand that his lordship thanks them in the 
king's name, for their good behaviour, and assures them, that 
his majesty highly approves of their conduct. He farther 
engages his promise, that whatever bad consequences may 
ensue, they may depend upon the utmost assistance and support 
that his office can afford them.* Without entering into the 
evidence on which the coroner's verdict against an officer and 
some soldiers of the guards was founded, I shall not scruple to 
say that this mention of the king's name is very improper and 
indecent. The father of his people undoubtedly laments the 
fatal necessity which has occasioned the murder of one of his 
subjects, but cannot be supposed to approve highly of a con- 
duct which has had dreadful consequences. An event of this 
shocking nature may admit of excuse and mitigation from cir- 
cumstances of necessity, but can never be the object of the 
highest royal approbation ; — much less was it proper to signify 



agreeable a service always gives me pain ; but the circumstances of the times 
make it necessary. I am persuaded they see that necessity, and will continue, 
as they have done, to perform their duty with alacrity : I beg you will be pleased 
to assure them that every possible regard shall be shown to them ; their zeal and 
good behavior upon this occasion deserve it ; and in case any disagreeable cir- 
cumstance should happen in the execution of their duty, they shall have every 
defence and protection that the law can authorise, and this office can give. 

I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, 

Barrington. 

Field officer in staff waiting for the three regiments of foot-guards. 

Officers for guard on Saturday next, lieut. col. Groin, &c. &c. — Ed. 

* In the riot here alluded to, which originated from a vast concourse of people 
assembled together opposite the King's Bench prison, on May 10, in the expecta- 
tion that Wilkes would be liberated from it on this day in order to take his seat 
in parliament, (it being the first day of its session,) about fourteen persons were 
shot and more wounded by the precipitate firing of the raiUtary. Among the rest 
was a young man of the name of Allen, who had taken no part in the tumult, and 
was slain in an out-house belonging to his father, (who lived in the neighbor- 
hood,) in the very act of imploring mercy of the soldiers who shot him. Some 
of the military more immediately engaged were secured by the civil power, and 
were on the point of taking their trial for the murder. And it is to this transac- 
tion the letter alludes. — Ed. 



156 SKETGII OF THE LIFE OF 

such strong approbation of a conduct which includes a fact stiO 
sub judice,and the particulars of which are not yet Imown with 
any degree of certainty. 

The secretary at war would have done better in confining his 
letter to the expression of his own sentiments. What he has 
said for himself, if I am rightly informed, will require more wit 
than he possesses to defend. For the mere benefit of the law, 
I presume, the prisoners will hardly thank him. It is a benefit 
they are entitled to, and will certainly have, whether he and his 
ofl[ice interfere or not. If he means any thing more, let him 
look to his words. But I hold it to be highly unconstitutional 
as well as illegal, to promise official support and protection to 
either party in a criminal case wherein the king prosecutes for 
the loss of his subject. There is a degree of folly in a minister 
of the crown signing such a letter which looks like infatuation ; 
but I hope the court of King's Bench, or some other court, will 
let him know what the law calls abetment and maintenance, and 
bring him to his senses. Yours, 

Fiat Justicia. 

Junius refers to the case of Bigby, as follows, in his letters, 
No.39, dated May 28, 1770: 

"At any other period, I doubt not, the scandalous disorders, 
which have been introduced into the government of all the de- 
pendencies of the Empire, would have roused the attention of 
the public. The odious abuse and prostitution of the preroga- 
tive at home — the unconstitutional employment of the military 
— ^the arbitrary fines and commitments by the house of lords, 
and court of King's Bench ; — the mercy of a chaste and pious 
prince extended cheerfully to a wilful murderer, because that 
murderer is the brother of a common prostitute,* would, I think, 
at any other time, have excited universal indignation.f But 



+ Miss Kennedy. 

t Matthew and Patrick Kennedy had been condemned to suffer death for tlie 
murder of John Bigby, a watchman. Their sister, Miss Kennedy, was a prosti- 
tute well known to many of the courtiers of the day, and her intercession availed 
to attain for them, first a respite, and afterwards a pardon. The widow of Bigby, 
nevertheless, laid an appeal against the murderers ; and a new trial was appointed. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 157 

the daring attack upon the constitution, in the Middlesex elec- 
tion, makes us callous and indifferent to inferior grievances. 
No man regards an eruption upon the surface, when the noble 
parts are invaded, and he feels a mortification approaching to 
his heart." 

M'Quirk's case is thus noticed by Junius, in letter, No. 8, 
addressed to the duke of Grafton, dated March 18, 1769 : 

*' By what judicious management have you contrived it, that 
the only act of mercy to which you ever advised your sove- 
reign, far from adding to the lustre of a character truly gracious 
and benevolent, should be received with universal disapproba- 
tion and disgust ? I shall consider it as a ministerial measure, 
because it is an odious one, and as your measure, my lord duke, 
because you are the minister. 

As long as the trial of this chairman was depending, it 
was natural enough that government should give him every 
possible encouragement and support. The honorable service 
for which he was hired, and the spirit with wliich he per- 
formed it, made common cause between your grace and him. 
The minister, who by secret corruption, invades the free- 
dom of elections, and the ruffian, who, by open violence 
destroys that freedom, are embarked in the same bottom ; they 
have the same interests, and mutually feel for each other. To 
do justice to your grace's humanity, you felt for M'Quirk as you 
ought to do ; and if you had been contented to assist him indi- 
rectly, M^ithout a notorious denial of justice, or openly insulting 
the sense of the nation, you might have satisfied every duty of 
political friendship, without committing the honor of your sove- 
reign, or hazarding the reputation of his government. But 



The friends of Miss Kennedy, however, bought them ofi' by a present to the 
widow of three hundred and fifty pounds ; and, in consequence, she desisted from 
appearing against the prisoners when they were arraigned. Ed. 

To a statement similar to the above, Mr. Stephens, in his Life of Tooke, adds : 
The money was " advanced by a nobleman with whom Miss K. then lived. Mr. 
Home Tooke lately assured me, that the late Mr. Arthur Murphy was the person 
who paid the money ; and that Mrs. Bigby, after haggling for a long time as to 
♦he amount, finally insisted on the whole being paid in gold !" — Am. Edit. 



158 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

when this unhappy man had been solemnly tried, convicted, 
and condemned ; when it appeared that he had been frequently 
employed in the same services, and that no excuse for him 
could be drawn either from the innocence of his former life, or 
the simplicity of his character ; was it not hazarding too much, 
to interpose the strength of the prerogative between this felon 
and the justice of his country ?" 

Junius also addressed the following letter to the Printer of 
the Public Advertiser, on this subject, dated June 6, 1769. (See 
Miscellaneous Letters, No. 56.) 

"Sir — I wish theduke ofGrafton had thought proper to take the 
opinion of our gracious queen's solicitor-general* before he par- 
doned M'Quirk. That worthy lawyer is never at cross purposes 
with himself,and I dare say would have maintained the same doc- 
trine in his closet which he has delivered for the instruction of 
the public. He says in his last volume, p. 12, ' that the pains of 
death ought never to be inflicted, but when the oifender appears 
incorrigible : which may be collected either from a repetition 
of minuter offences, or from the perpetration of some one 
crime of deep malignity, which of itself demonstrates a dispo- 
sition without hope or probability of amendment ; and in such 
cases it would be cruelty to the public to defer the punishment 
of such a criminal, till he had an opportunity of repeating per- 
haps the worst of villanies.' 

What would this most respectable of all possible lawyers 
have thought of granting a pardon to a culprit, who had not 
only been convicted of a repetition of offences, and those not 
minute but atrocious, but who had actually committed murder ? 
He certainly would have called it something more than cruelty 
to the public. His knowledge of the laws would have told him 
that the purpose for which this villain was employed by the 
ministry, was treason against the constitution ;-f that it was the 



* Sir William Blackstone. 

"t In reference to Sir W. Blackstone's opinion relating to the Middlesex elec- 
tion. See Junius, No. 18, 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 159 

highest aggravation of the crimes he committed in prosecution 
of it ; — that murder, simply considered, is only an injury to the 
individual who suffers; or in the most enlarged sense, to society, 
in the loss of one of its members ; — but that when it is con- 
nected with, and founded on, the idea of destroying the consti- 
tution of the state (which as far as Mr. M'Quirk's labors could 
be supposed to operate was certainly the case,) it then compre- 
hends every quality, which can make an offence of this sort 
criminal in the eye of the law ; — the injury to the individual ; — 
a breach of the public peace and security in a civil light ; — and 
a violation of that political system, on which the liberty and 
happiness of the community depend. Mr. Blackstone would 
have told the fiery duke, that to pardon such an offender would 
not only be a most scandalous evasion of law and justice, but 
the grossest insult to the common understanding of the nation. 
His grace must then have applied to some lawyer of a more 
flexible character. There is a man, for instance, who seems to 
have hoarded up a treasure of reputation, not to last him through 
life, but to squander away at one moment, with a fooHsh inde- 
cent prodigality ; — who is not ashamed to maintain an oral doc- 
trine directly opposite to that which he had written, nor to de- 
ceive the representative after instructing the collective body of 
the nation. This man would willingl' have accommodated his 
authority to the purposes of administration ; and as for himself, 
he could suffer no loss, for which the vanity of an author would 
not have sufficiently consoled him. The respect due to his 
writings will probably increase with the contempt due to his 
character, and his works will be quoted, when he himself is 
forgotten or despised. Simplex." 

Mr. Home, on his trial for a libel, (see Stephens's Life, vol. 
i. p. 455,) in his address to the jury, observed, "As for the charge 
itself, you cannot be ignorant that I am accused of the only 
unpardonable crime which can, at this time, be committed. I 
am accused of a hbel. Murder, attended with the most aggra- 
vating circumstances, has been repeatedly pardoned ; and trea- 
son, the blackest treason, against the family on the throne, and, 
what is of more consequence to us than any family, against the 



U)0 SKETCH or THE LIFE 6v 

free constitution of this country, has been not only pardoned, 
but taken into favour ; and the estates of convict traitors have 
been restored to them and to their famihes. 

" Whilst mercy and forgiveness, gentlemen, have been thus 
flowing unnaturally, in a full stream, over the highest mountains 
of iniquity, has any one of you ever spied the smallest rivulet 
descending towards the valley of the libeller ? Has any man so 
charged, ever yet met with mercy ?" 



CHAPTER X. 

FROM 1T69 TO J77(l. 

Dispute with George Onslow. — Junius and Horne act as one 
man in this ajfair. — Reflections. 

It has already been remarked, that Mr. Horne, at this period 
of his life, had distinguished himself as a preacher ; and, not- 
withstanding the tumult of election contests and the continual 
bustle and confusion incident to so many political struggles, he 
now actually found time to compose and publish a sermon. 
This seems evidently to have been written in the bitterness of 
disappointment : and, as it is supposed to be the only religious 
tract ever printed by him, a copious analysis shall be inserted 
in this place. 

The text is taken from Psalm Iv. 12, 13. 

" It was not an open enemy that hath done me this dishonor ; 
for then I could have borne it. 

But it was even thou my companion, my guide, and my own 
familiar friend." 

The divine begins by acknowledging himself to be sensibly 
affected with the pathetic impatience of David, who in all his 
other trials appears patient and resigned ; but this he owns he 
could not bear. Few, it is observed, but have experienced a 
similar sensation. " And because a disappointment in friend- 
ship is the most common, and at the same time, the most 
stinging of all others — Listen to me. while I propose to you a 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. Ittl 

method how you may escape this anguish and never know, 
' how sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a faithless 
friend,' &c.* 

In July, 1769, Mr. Home engaged in a dispute with Mr. 
George Onslow. This gentleman had been a warm supporter 
of the opposition, but having afterwards joined the court party, 
he obtained an office under the Grafton administration ; and 
was now both considered and treated as a deserter from the 
popular cause. 

The vicar of Brentford was not slow in exhibiting his resent- 
ments ; for at a public meeting of the freeholders of Surrey, 
assembled at Epsom, he attacked this gentleman, who then 
happened to be one of the knights of the shire, and a member 
of the privy council, " as a man who would promise fair, but 
was incapable of keeping his word ;" and he unadvisedly added, 
" that if Mr. Onslow would lay aside his privilege, he would lay 
aside his gown." 

Soon after this, the following letter appeared in the Public 
Advertiser. 

To the right lumorahle George Onslow, Esq. 

" Sir, — I have heard from very good authority, that one of 
the lords of the treasury has gained a thousand pounds in a very 
common and usual manner, which is yet likely to be attended 

with a very uncommon and unusual consequence. Mr. 

applied to the right honorable Mr. , for his interest for a 

certain lucrative post in America. The gentleman was informed 
that a thousand pounds placed in the hands of Mrs. would 



* This sermon had evidently a personal bearing upon Mr. Wilkes, and was so 
understood by him. This single specimen is sufficient to show, that the pro- 
fession chosen for Mr. Home by his parents was illy adapted to lois genius, and 
fully accounts for his anxiety to change it for that of the law. 

The remark of Mr. Stephens, that Mr. Home, a regular clergyman in orders, 
"actually found time to compose and publish a sermon," will appear singular tu 
the American reader ; as in this country clergymen are supposed generally to 
compose their own sermons. In England, however, it is said to be different in 
respect to clergymen of the established church. — Jim. Edit. 

1} 



162 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

insure him the place. Mr. not having the money, prevailed 

on colonel to join with him in a bond for that sum to the 

lady to whom he was directed. So far, sir, all is in the common 
track ; what follows is the wonderful part of the transaction. 
This lord of the treasury kept his word, and the gentleman was 
appointed to the office he had paid for ! and stranger still, lord 

, who discovered this bargain and sale, is offended at it, 

and insists on the dismission of this lord of the treasury. Now> 
sir, I must entreat you to favor one of your constituents with 
the name of this lord of the treasury ; for you no doubt, who 
sit at that board yourself, must be acquainted with him. 

A Freeholder of Surrey." 
Ash Court, nth Jul)', 1769. 

This letter was answered by Mr. Onslow as follows. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

July lU. 
" Sir, — Having just now read a letter containing by evident 
insinuation, a most audacious attack upon my character, printed 
by you in your paper of Friday last, asserting a gross and 
infamous lie from beginning to end : I do hereby publicly call 
upon you to name the person from whom you received the 
account you have presumed to publish. If you are either unable 
or unwiUing to do this, I shall most certainly treat you as the 
author, and in justice both to myself and others, who are every 
day thus malignantly and wickedly vilified, shall take the best 
advice in the law, if an action will not lie for such atrocious 
defamation, and if I may not hope to make an example of the 
author of it;' &c. signed, " George Onslow.'' 

In consequence of this threatening letter of Mr. Onslow. 
Junius writes to his printer. Mr. Woodfall, as follow s : 

July 21, 1769, Friday night. 

" Sir, — Pray tell me whether George Onslow means to keep 

his word with you about prosecuting. Yes or No will be suffi- 

cient. Your Licurgus is a Mr. Kent, a young man of good 

parts upon town. And so I wish you a good night. Yours. C. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 



163 



Junius having obtained the required information from Mr. 
Woodfall, " the writer of the first address, now authorised the 
printer to give Mr. Onslow his name, and once more attacked 
the honorable gentleman as follows, in the same paper, July 

38." 

To the right Iwnorahle George Onslow. 

" Good Sir, — If with another innocent man, lord Holland, you 
too, were ambitious to add to the list of Mr. Walpole's right 
honorable authors, you might, like him, have exposed yourself 
with more temper, and have called names in better English. 

I should be sorry to libel you by mistaking your meaning, but 
the strange manner of wording your first sentence leaves me 

at a loss to know whether you intend that my letter, or 

your own character ' is a gross and infamous lie from beginning 
to end.' 

You may save yourself the expense of taking ' the best ad- 
vice in the law.' Depend upon it you can never ' hope to make 
an example of the author, when the publisher is unable or 
unwilling to give up his name.' And you need not wait for a 
jury to determine, that ' robbing a man is certainly a robbery.' 
But you should have considered, some months since, that it is 
the same thing whether the man be guilty or innocent ; and 

whether he be robbed of his reputation or of his seat in 

parliament," 

" The letter written by you to Mr. Wilkes, tends more ' to 
wound your character and honor' than any other, and yet you 
pass it over in silence. But you shall, if you please, prove to 
the world, that those who have neither character nor honor, 

may still be wounded in a very tender part their interest. 

And I believe lord Hillsborough is too noble to suffer any lord of 
the treasury to prostitute his name and commission to bargains 
like that I have exposed ; but will, if he continues to preside at 
the board of trade, resolutely insist either on such lord's full jus- 
tification or dismission. Hinc illce LachrymcB. 

You * defy the whole world to prove a single word in my let- 
ter to be true ; or that the whole is not a barefaced, positive, 



164 !«KETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

and entire lie/ The language of the last part of this sentence 
is such as I can make no use of, and therefore I return it back 
on you to whom it belongs : the defiance in the first part I 
accept, and will disprove what you say." 

" If any persons have done your character an injury by a 
charge of corruption, they are most guilty who so thoroughly be- 
lieved you capable of that crime, as topaya large sum of money on 
the supposition : (an indignity which I protest I would not have 
offered to you, though you had negotiated the matter, and given 
the promise yourself) And yet 1 do not find you at all angry 
with them when they tell you their opinion of you without 
scruple. 

Archbishop Laud thought to clear himself to posterity from 
all aspersions relative to popery, by inserting in his diary his 
refusal of a cardinal's hat, not perceiving the disgrace indelibly 
fixed on liim by the offer. ' Mr. Burns has had the strongest 
recommendations from persons of undoubted veracity, and I 
believe on all accounts will be found to be perfectly capable 
and worthy of the employment.' The letter from Mrs. Burns 
to you does, by no means, declare her to be an idiot. Colonel 

, (whom you forbear to mention,) is a man of sense, and 

well acquainted with the world. It is strange they should all 
three believe you capable of this crime, which, ' of all others, 
you most hold in abhorrence.' " 

Mr. Home concludes this letter as follows : 

" Thus, sir, you see how far 1 am from casting any refiectiori 
on your integrity : however, if notwithstanding all I have said, 
3'ou are still resolved to try the determination of a jury, take 
one piece of advice from me : do not think of prosecuting me 
ihraninsinuation: alter your charge before it comes upon record, 
to prevent its being done afterwards ; for though lord Mansfield 
did not know the difference between the words when he sub- 
stituted the one for the other, we all know very well now that 
it is the tenor, and not the purpo7% that must convict for a libel, 
whirli, indeed, almost every student in the law knew before. 

A Freeholder of Sukrev." 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 165 

After the correspondence with Mr. Onslow was concluded, 
Junius writes to Mr. Woodfall as follows : 

Wednesday night, Aug. 16,1769. 

" Sir, — I have been some days in the country, and could not 
conveniently send for your letter until this night. Your cor- 
rection was perfectly right ; the sense required it, and I am 
much obliged to you." Here, I apprehend, Junius made a mis- 
take ; and that, instead of having been in the country, he came 
from Brentford to town for the purpose of obtaining informa- 
tion and advice respecting the Onslow affair. He adds, " I 
know Mr. Onslow perfectly. He is a false, silly fellow. De- 
2)end upon it he will get nothing but shame by contending with 
Mr. Home."* Mr. Home said of Onslow% that he was "a man 
who would promise fair, but was incapable of keeping his word J' 
Junius continues, " I believe I need not assure you that I have 
never written in any paper since I began in yours. As to 
Junius, I must wait i'or fresh matter, as this is a c^aracfer which 
must he kept up with credit. Avoid prosecutions if you can ; 
but, above all things, avoid the houses of parliament, — there is 
no contending with them. At present you are safe, for the 
house of commons has lost all dignity, and dare not do any 
thing. Adieu, C." 

By the foregoing it appears, that Junius was anxious to assure 
Mr. Woodfall that, notwithstanding the diversion which had 
occurred, he had not quit his paper; and an action for defama- 
tion having already been commenced against him by Mr. Ons- 
low, he naturally advised his friend W. to avoid, if possible, the 
like predicament. As to Junius, he must wait for fresh matter, 
as that was a character which required a very different style 
from that of " A Freeholder of Surrey." 

If Junius was not the author of this attack upon Mr. Onslow, 
why did he show so much anxiety about the threatened prose- 
cution ? Whv did he not leave the writer to settle his own 



* Home, in his second letter to Onslow, says, " dependttpon it, ' you can never 
hope to make an example of the author,' " &c. 



166 SKETCH OP THE LIFE OF 

business? Why should he hazard an unnecessary risk ol 
exposure by meddling with other people's afFairs ? Why did he 
demand of Woodfall a laconic, categorical answer, Yes or No 
in regard to the prosecution ? What could Junius do in the case, 
provided the answer should be Yes, and he had no concern in 
the dispute? 

Upon any other supposition than that Junius was the author 
of the letters signed " A Freeholder of Surrey," his conduct in 
this affair would appear impertinent, absurd, and ridiculous in 
the extreme. 

Let it be remembered also, that the whole of the correspon- 
dence of Home and Onslow upon this occasion is printed in 
G. Woodfall's edition of Junius, in notes, according to " the 
plan, as devised hy the author^'' which occupy upwards of six 
close printed pages, in brevier type ; and that this is done with- 
out any other apology than the slight notice taken of it in the 
private letters of Junius to Woodfall, as quoted above. This 
edition, the proprietor says, contains, " as far as may, be, the 
Political Works of Junius." The desire to embody the 
whole of the political writings of the author, is the only justifi- 
cation that can be given for obtruding this correspondence 
among the letters of Junius. 

It is moreover, not unworthy of notice, that Mr. Home com- 
menced this warfare under a fictitious signature, which was his 
usual custom in his writings of this kind, although he has endea- 
vored to impress upon the public mind a contrary opinion. 
But, in this case, being confident of success in a court- of law, 
if an action should be brought against him, and having no objec- 
tion to a public quarrel with Mr. Onslow, he surrenders his 
name. 

Mr. Stephens continues the history of this dispute as follows: 
after concluding the second letter of Mr. Home, he says — 

" As this letter was obviously an aggravation of the original 
attack, Mr. Onslow, who had by this time, perhaps, discovered 
himself unequal to a literary controversy with his unknown 
antagonist, determined to appeal to the laws for protection. 
Accordingly, on application to Mr. Henry Sampson Woodfall. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 167 

the printer, for the name of the author, the reply was : " The 
rev. Mr. Home, and he has authorised me to tell you so." Im- 
mediately on this, instructions were given to commence an 
action against that gentleman, and greatly to the credit of the 
plaintiff, who had his choice of proceedings, this did not prove 
a prosecution at the suit of the king, on which occasion, the 
criminality and tendency of the supposed hbel to disturb the 
public peace, would have been the only subjects for considera- 
tion : but a civil suit in which the accusation must appear to be 
false as well as scandalous, in order to entitle the plaintiff to com- 
pensation. The damages were laid at ten thousand pounds. 

The trial took place at Kingston, on Friday April 6, 1770, 
before Sir William Blackstone, and a common jury of the 
county of Surrey, when Mr. sergeant Leigh opened the cause 
in behalf of the plaintiff. After briefly and ably stating the 
high rank and dignified situation of his client, he insisted, that 
the publication in question was a cruel and unjust attack on the 
character of that gentleman, not by a " common scribbler," but 
a man of abilities, " surrounded by friends, well known to the 
world, and considerable enough to be taken notice of" He 
added, " that it became Mr. Onslow, either to sink under this 
imputation, gross and false as it is, or to vindicate himself to a 
jury of his country ; and as for damages, he hoped they would 
be such as shall convince men for the future that, let their wit, 
capacity, or connexions be what they may, they shall not dare 
to prostitute them to so bad a purpose, as to attack wantonly, 
and without foundation, their neighbor's reputation." 

On the examination of Mr. Woodfall, it appeared that the 
first letter, printed in No. 10,913, of the Public Advertiser, was 
the only one he was authorized by the defendant to acknow- 
ledge, and the only one, concerning which the plaintiff had 
inquired. The second appeared in another paper, and the 
printer had been induced to publish it, in consequence of a note 
written, as he believes, by Mr. Home, which could not now be 
produced. 

On this Mr. sergeant Glynn objected to any account being given 
of awritten paper not produced in court,not destroyed byinevita- 
ble accident, or suppressed by the fraud of the defendant, the only 



168 SKETCH OP THE LIFE Ol 

two cases wherein a person is permitted to give parole evidence. 
He added, " that the witness rested upon the testimony he was 
then giving, and of the conviction he hoped to obtain, to screen 
himself from prosecution ; and this was not surely a case, when 
the common, ordinary, estabhshed principle of law is to be 
departed from." 

Mr. Justice Blackstone declared his opinion, " that' evidence 
should not be given upon memory of the hand-writing of a let- 
ter that is not produced, merely upon the comparison and simi- 
litude of hands ; and, if it rested on that evidence, he could 
not permit the printed letter to be read as Mr. Home's, without 
producing the written one." 

Mr. Woodfall being again called, observed, that, in general, 
he never kept letters, as it would require a room as big as the 
largest barn in the county to hold them — that he had lately 
moved from one house to another, on which occasion, he sup- 
poses the letter in question had been destroyed — and that he 
had searched for but could not find it. — On his cross-examina- 
tion, he acknowledged, that even the jirst letter was not pub- 
lished according to Mr. Home's direction — and that there was 
a material variation, consisting of the addition of esq. in the 
first hue. 

Mr. Messing, who was also of counsel for Mr. Home, remark- 
ed, that Mr. Onslow had undertaken to prove the tenor^ and in 
this case, if there is any variation, however small, it would set 
aside this action : " There is a case,* where the word was nor, 
for not, the sense not being in the least altered, and the deter- 
mination of the court was, that this variation was fatal. In the 
present instance there was also a variation, for it is written 
' Ash Court, 1 1 July' in the pkper just read, whereas it is the 
• 11th' in the record, which comes within the objection cited." 

On an appeal to the court, it was decided, " that they ought 
to prove the alleged libel mentioned in the declaration literatim^ 
in the words, letters, and figures ; if I admit the variation of a 
single letter," adds the judge, " I do not know where to stop : 



Queen and Drake, reported in Salkeld, 660. 



JOILV IIORNE TOOKE. 169 

it' it is undertaken to prove the tenor of a libel, it must appear 
to be literally and numerically the same. Here the party has 
declared on the purport, which would have altered the matter. 
I cannot make a case of it, as desired, for then there must be a 
verdict for the plaintiff, which my brother Glynn will not con- 
sent to ; but a motion may be made to set aside the nonsuit 
and obtain a new trial, upon the ground of my being mistaken 
in point of law." 

In consequence of this decision, Mr. Home escaped with 
impunity for the present ; but a new trial was soon after moved 
for in the court of King's Bench, on the ground of " misdirec- 
tion on the part of the judge." After hearing counsel on both 
sides this was granted ; the usual preliminary steps were taken: 
and issue being once more jomed by the parties, the cause was 
set down for hearing at the ensuing Surrey assizes before a 
special jury. On that occasion, a new count was added to the 
former declaration, for " defamatory words" spoken before the 
freeholders of the county against one of their representatives. 

Although the defendant did not plead his own cause, yet he 
interested himself greatly in all the proceedings ; and notwith- 
standing his high opinion of the abilities of his advocates, 
he differed with them about the mode of conducting the suit. 
It finally appeared, indeed, that he was right as to an essential 
point of practice, for they were overruled as he had foreseen by 
the chief justice. 

The earl of Mansfield who presided on this occasion, was 
accused by Mr. Home of hurrying on the cause a considerable 
time before the hour at which the jury had been summoned to 
attend, and in consequence of this, talesman were recurred to, 
for the purpose of filling up the places of five special jurors who 
had not yet arrived. Be this as it may, sergeant Glynn and 
Mr. Messing, both of whom had been again retained, insisted 
on the impropriety of prosecuting a constituent for making a 
charge openly, and in the face of his representative who had 
thereby an opportunity of clearing himself if innocent. They 
also contended, that no action for words will lie unless specific 
damages were proved ; and above all. it was strongly and 



170 



SKET«j!M OF THE LLI^E Ol' 



repeatedly asserted by them, that the evidence respecting tiie 
letters was insufficient and directly in opposition to all the re- 
ceived maxims of law. Notwithstanding this, the chief justice 
in his charge, strongly urged the great impropriety, scandal, &c., 
of the various accusations made, and the defamatory libel uttered 
by the defendant, after which the jury gave a verdict for the 
plaintiff, with four hundred pounds damages. 

Undaunted at the result, and doubtless rejoicing at an oppor- 
tunity of contending with, and perhaps foiling this learned and 
eloquent judge at his own weapons, Mr, Home determined to 
appeal to a superior tribunal. Accordingly on November 8, 
1770, a rule was moved for in the court of Common Pleas, to 
show cause, why the second verdict should not be set aside, and 
the ^6th of same month was the day appointed for an argument 
on the question before the twelve judges. Mr. sergeant Glynn 
on this occasion re-stated his former reasons with his usual 
ability, and insisted that the last jury had acted not only under 
misdirection on the part of the judge, but that the latter had 
delivered a charge to them, in express violation of the received 
principles of law. As this was deemed a point of great impor- 
tance to prevent a hasty decision, and give ample time for 
deliberation, final judgment was adjourned until next term. On 
the recurrence of that period, the judges on April 17, 1771 
finally and unanimously declared in favor of the defendant, in 
consequence of which the second verdict was set aside. 

This, of course, afforded no small exultation to Mr. Home, 
who had directed and superintended the proceedings : as he 
had thus publicly proved in the face of the whole nation, that 
the lord chief justice, great and able as he assuredly was, could 
not now be considered as infallible : and fi-om this day forward, 
he took every opportunity to arraign the conduct, underrate the 
talents, and oppose the opinions of that celebrated man. Nor 
did his resentment against Mr. Onslow end here ; for he opposed 
him at the next general election, and being indefatigable in his 
canvass of the county, and a man of no common influence, con- 
tributed not a little to prevent his return. Perceiving the honor- 
able William Norton, now lord Grantley, and who had just 



JOHN HOllNE TOOKE. 171 

returned from his travels, to be a young man of great hopes 
and promising talents, he warmly seconded his pretensions, 
which appear to have obtained general approbation, and that 
gentleman being accordingly elected, conducted himself so as 
to give entire satisfaction to all parties, until by the demise of 
his father, he became a peer of the realm. 

It will be observed, that Mr. Onslow had obtained a verdict 
against Mr. Home for 400?. damages — that on Nov. 8, 1770, a 
rule wa.s moved to show cause, why this verdict should not be 
set aside, and the 36th of the same month was appointed for an 
argument on the question, before the twelve judges. 

This was a crisis in Mr. Home's affairs of some importance. 
A draft of 400/. with the additional costs of suit, on a country 
vicar, whose income amounted only " to between two and three 
hundred pounds per annum," would probably have put the 
parson to some inconvenience. The case called for the utmost 
exertion of the powerful mind of Mr. Horne. What was to be 
done ? Boldly attack the chief justice. — Denounce him as a 
tyrant, unjust and partial in the exercise of his official duties. — 
Render him odious to the people. — Represent him in such a 
manner, that his associate judges, for the presei-vation of their 
own characters, will refuse to support him. These appear to 
have been the reflections of Mr. Horne upon this occasion ; 
and accordingly on the 12th of November, four days after the 
application for a new trial, we find Junius writes a note to his 
printer, enclosing a philippic against lord Mansfield. 

The note to Mr. Woodfall is in the following terms. 

Monday evening, Nov. 12, 177U. 
" Sir, — The enclosed though begun within these few days, has 
been greatly labored. It is very correctly copied, and I beg 
you will take care that it be literally printed as it stands. I don't 
think you run the least risk. We have got the rascal down, let 
us strangle him if it be possible. This paper should properly 
have appeared to-morrow, but I could not compass it, so let it 
be announced to-morrow, and printed Wednesdav. If vou 



172 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

should have any fears, I entreat you send it early enough to 
Miller, to appear to-morrow night in the London Evening Post. 
In that case, you will oblige me by informing the pubhc to- 
morrow in yoiu^ own papei', that a real Junius will appear at 
night in the London. — Miller, I am sure will have no scruples. 
Lord Mansfield has thrown the ministry into confusion, by 
suddenly resigning the office of Speaker of the House of Lords, 

What necessity could there be for so much haste in this case^ 
except to give sufficient time for his letter to have its intended 
eftect before the meeting of the twelve judges ? It is highly 
probable, that this exposure of lord Mansfield's proceedings 
caused the reversal of his decision in the case in question. 

The date of the letter to lord Mansfield, as usual with the 
communications of Junius, is taken from the date of the paper 
in which it appeared, viz. Nov. 14, 1770. 

A few extracts are made as follows : 

November 14, 1 770. 

*' My lord, — The appearance of this letter will attract the 
curiosity of the public, and command even your lordship's atten- 
lion. I am considerably in your debt, and shall endeavor,once 
for all, to balance the account. Accept of this address, my 
lord, as a prologue to more important scenes, in which you will 
probably be called upon to act or suffer. 

You will not question my veracity, when I assure you, that it 
has not been owing to any particular respect for your person 
that I have abstained from you so long. Besides the distress 
and danger with which the press is threatened, when your lord- 
ship is party, and the party is to be judge, I confess I have been 
deterred by the difficulty of the task. Our language has no 
term of reproach, the mind has no idea of detestation, which has 
not already been happily applied to you, and exhausted. Ample 
justice has been done by abler pens than mine, to the separate 
merits of your life and character. Let it be my humble office to 
collect the scattered sweets till their united virtue tortures the 
sense." 



.tOHN HORNE TOOKE. ITS 

" In contempt or ignorance of the common law of England, 
you have made it your study to introduce into the court where 
you preside, maxims of jurisprudence unknown to Englishmen, 

The Roman code, the law of nations, and the opinion of 
foreign civilians, are your perpetual theme ; but who ever heard 
youmention Magna Charta, orthe Billof Rights, withapprobation 
or respect ? By such treacherous arts the noble simplicity and 
free spirit of our Saxon laws were first corrupted. The Norman 
conv^uest was not complete, until Norman lawyers had intro- 
duced their laws, and reduced slavery to a system. This one 
leading principle directs your interpretation of the laws, and 
accounts for your treatment of juries. It is not in political 
questions only (for there the courtier might be forgiven,) but 
let the cause be what it may, your understanding is equally on 
the rack, either to contract the power of the jury, or to mislead 
their judgment." 

" Even in matters of private property, we see the same bias 
and inclination to depart from the decisions of your predeces- 
sors, which you certainly ought to receive as evidence of the 
common law. Instead of those certain positive rules by which 
the judgment of a court of law should invariably be determined, 
you have fondly introduced your own unsettled notions of 
equity and substantial justice. Decisions given upon such prin- 
ciples do not alarm the public so much as they ought, because 
the consequence and tendency of each particular instance is 
not observed or regarded. In the mean time, the practice 
gains ground ; the court of King's Bench becomes a court of 
equity ; and the judge, instead of consulting strictly the law of 
the land, refers only to the wisdom of the court, and to the purity 
of his own conscience." 

"When you invade the province of the jury, in matter q/'Z?'6e/, 
you, in effect, attack the liberty of the press, and with a single 
stroke, wound two of your greatest enemies. In some instances, 
you have succeeded, because jurymen are too often ignorant of 
their ow^n rights, and too apt to be awed by the authority of a 
chief justice." 

It may also be remarked, that during the pendency of the suit 
with Onslow. Junius, for the purpose of showing a want of cor- 



1'74 SKETCH or THli LIFE WF 

rect and consistent principles in Mr. Onslow, addressed the 
Printer of the Public Advertiser as follows : 

17 November, 1769. 

" Sir, — I will not pretend to say that the enclosed letter is a 
very severe libel on its right honorable author ! And yet, Mr. 
Woodfall, you may safely print it ; for though we have laws 
against self-murder, there are none against self-libelling. 

A curious collection of correspondence,both political and amo- 
rous, has lately fallen into my hands, with which I shall from 
time to time furnish you, reserving the most extraordinary of 
both kinds till the last, ^owr la honne houche. 

X. X." 

The following is an extract of the letter enclosed by Junius, 
from George Onslow to John Wilkes : 

" My dear Wilkes, — I am very sorry to have been prevented 
seeing you to-day ; but I hope to have a good account of you 
by the return of my servant who brings you this : perhaps you 
may be better if more of our friends besides myself have 
missed troubling you to-day ; as I'm sure, quiet and keeping 
down your wonderful flow of spirits must do you good. To 
most men in your situation such a caution would surely be 
needless, because men of less greatness of mind, and of a less 
noble spirit than yourself, would yield to such a load of damna- 
ble persecution, from the most dangerous administration that 
ever was in this country. But honest men like yourself know 
how to despise it and them, and to rise superior to them all." 
&c. 

Junius adds the following note to his letter signed X. X. : 

"Mr. Onslow was at this time persecuting Wilkes with all 
the acrimony in his power, in unison with the duke of Grafton, 
both of whom had, a few years before, professed the warmest 
friendship for Wilkes. Mr. Home, not then at enmity with 
Wilkes, had just published the following letter, of a similar kind 
of which Wilkes had given him a copy : 

' To the. Printer of the Public Adcertiscr. 

14 July, ntJ9. 
Sir, — Many of your readers having seen an abuse on Mr. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 175 

Home, for the publication of a letter from Mr. Onslow to Mr. 
Wilkes, are desirous of seeing that original.' " 

Then follows the letter of Onslow to Wilkes as published by 
Mr. Home, much in the style of the foregoing, of which an 
extract is given. 

The animosity of Junius towards Mr. Onslow is farther ex- 
pressed in letter No. 44, April 22, 1771, in which, referring to 
doctrines maintained by Tories and Jacobites, he says, " If their 
present professions were sincere, I think they could not but be 
highly offended at seeing a question concerning parliamentary 
privilege unnecessarily started, at a season so unfavorable to 
the house of commons, and by so very mean and insignificant 
a person as the minor Onslow.^'' 

On the foregoing, Mr. Heron innocently remarks : " This 
gentleman had made himself odious to Junius and his friends 
by a prosecution against Mr. Home, on account of defamation 
in a speech at a public meeting ; in which Mr. Home said that 
though Mr. Onslow should promise his assistance, he would not 
believe him" Mr. Heron had forgotten that Junius pretended 
to know nothing more of Home than what the latter had com- 
municated to the public by his letters, alluding to those addressed 
to Wilkes, which were commenced in January preceding the 
date of the above letter, and are said to have rendered him 
inimical to Home. The fact is, the commentators upon Junius 
have been completely confused by his artful, cunning manage- 
ment. 



CHAPTER XI. 

PROM 1770 TO 1771. 

Mr. Home suggests the idea of a Reply to the king, and obtains 
a Statue for the lord mayor — Founds the " Society for Sup- 
porting the Bill of Rights" — Countenances Bingley in his 
Refusal to answer Interrogatories. 

Meanwhile the ministers still remained unpopular, and the 
county of Middlesex, which was deprived of the services of its 



17ti sKETrH or the life of 

representative, was eager, on all occasions, to attack their prin- 
ciples and impeach their conduct. On turning to the proceed- 
ings of this period, it will be found that the vicar of Brentford 
was not idle. Incited by his usual enthusiasm, he not only 
acted a conspicuous part on every public occasion, but for a 
time exercised a kind of paramount jurisdiction over all tJie poli- 
tical proceediiigs of that day. A variety of proofs of his influ- 
ence might be here readily adduced ; and the following extract 
from an address of the freeholders to the king, moved and 
carried by him, April 30, 1770, at the Mile-End assembly room, 
will at least tend to show that the language of those times was 
not deficient in energy. 

" Your majesty's servants have attacked our liberties in the 
most vital part ; they have torn away the very heart-strings of 
the constitution, and have made those very men the instruments 
of our destruction, whom the laws have appointed as the imme- 
diate guardians of our freedom. Yet, although we feel the 
utmost indignation against the factions, the honest defenders of 
our rights and constitution will ever claim our praise : but that 
the liberties of the people have been most grossly violated by 
the corrupt influence of ministers, since the days of Sir Ro- 
bert Walpole, is too notorious to require either illustration or 
comment." 

Not only petitions, but remonstrances to the throne, were at 
this moment meditated in various places. The counties of Mid- 
dlesex and Surrey had requested his majesty to dissolve the 
parUament, in consequence of the illegal rejection of Mr. 
Wilkes by the house of commons, after having been returned 
for the fourth time, as knight of the shire. On March 28, 1770, 
the city of Westminster also voted a remonstrance, in which 
an allusion was made " to the same secret and unhappy influence 
to which all their grievances had been originally owing." 

Nearly at the same time the lord mayor, aldermen, and livery 
of the city of London, in common hall assembled, resolved on 
" an humble address, remonstrEmce, and petition." But on the 
sheriffs repairing as usual to St. James's, to know his majestj^s 
pleasure as to the day when they should attend to present the 
same, some difficulties were started on the part of the ministers : 



.IOM^ HORNK TOOKJi. 



177 



however, in consequence of the spirited conduct of Mr. Town- 
send, the senior sheriff, who dechned the intervention of the two 
secretaries of state, and refused to communicate to any other 
person than the king the subject of their message, an audience 
was at length obtained. On tliis occasion the citizens, as usual, 
complain to the sovereign : " that, under the same secret and 
malign influence, which, through every successive administra- 
tion, has defeated every good, and suggested every bad inten- 
tion, the majority of the house of commons have deprived your 
people of their dearest rights. They have done a deed more 
ruinous in its consequences, (add they,) than the levying of ship- 
money by Charles the First, or the dispensing power assumed 
by James the Second. A deed which must vitiate all the future 
proceedings of this parliament, for the acts of the legislature 
itself can no more be valid without a legal house of commons, 
than without a legal prince upon the throne. 

Representatives of the people are essential to the making of 
laws, and there is a time when it is morally demonstrable, that 
men cease to be representatives ; the time is now arrived : the 
present house of commons do not represent the people." 

" The forms of the constitution, like those of religion, were 
not established for the form's sake, but for the substance ; and 
we call God and men to witness, that, as we do not owe our liberty 
to those nice and subtle distinctions, which places, and pensions, 
and lucrative employments have invented ; so neither will we 
be deprived of it by them ; but as it was gained by the stern 
virtue of our ancestors, by the virtue of their descendants it 
shall be preserved. 

Since, therefore the misdeeds oi' your majesty's ministers, in 
violating the freedom of election and depraving the noble con- 
stitution of parliament, are notorious, as well as subversive oi" 
the fundamental laws and liberties of this realm ; and since 
your majesty, both in honor and justice, is obliged inviolably to 
preserve them, according to the oath made to God and your 
subjects at your coronation : we, your majesty's remonstrants, 
assure ourselves, that your majesty will restore the constitu- 
tional government and quiet of your people, by dissolving t/i/s- 



178 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

parliament, and removing these evil ministers for ever from your 
councils." 

His majesty, in his answer, was pleased to signify his concern, 
that any of his subjects should be so far misled, as to ofl'er such 
an address and remonstrance. He at the same time pronounced 
the contents to be " disrespectful to him, injurious to his parlia- 
ment, and irreconcilable to the principles of the constitution." 

There can be but little doubt that Mr. Home was minutely 
acquainted with every thing relative to this famous remon- 
strance, and it was then supposed that, if not the actual pen- 
man, he at least inserted some of the most striking passages, 
and corrected the whole. Indeed, it is a well known fact, that 
he transmitted a copy of it to the Printer of the Public Adver- 
tiser, accompanied with an account of the ungracious reception 
experienced by the citizens. The following forms the conclud- 
ing passage : 

" When his majesty had done reading his speech, the lord 
mayor, &c. had the honor of kissing his hand ; after which, as 
they were withdrawing, his majesty instantly turned round to 
his courtiers, and hurst out a laughing. 

' Nero fiddled whilst Rome was burning.' " 

For this very imprudent publication, a prosecution was imme- 
diately commenced on the part of the crown ; but after the 
King's Bench had been moved on this subject, it was deemed 
proper to drop all further proceedings. 

The city, in its corporate capacity, nearly at the same time, 
resolved to draw up and present anew address and remon- _ 
strance, wliich was accordingly effected on the 23d of May- 
1770, and read to the king, seated on his throne, by the recorder. 
As this is known to have been wholly written by Mr. Home, a 
copy of it shall be inserted in this place. 

[An abstract only is here given.] 

" Perplexed and astonished as we are, by the awful sentence 
of censure, lately passed upon the citizens of London, in your 
majesty's answer from the throne, we cannot, without surren- 
dering all that is dear to Englishmen, forbear most humbly to 



rOHN HORME TOOKE. 17^ 

supplicate, that your majesty will deign to grant a more favor- 
able interpretation of this dutiful, though persevering claim to 
our invaded birth-rights." 

" Your majesty cannot disapprove, that we here assert the 
clearest principles of the constitution, against the insidious 
attempt of evil counsellors to perplex, confound, and shake 
them. We are determined to abide by those rights and liber- 
ties, which our forefathers bravely vindicated at the ever-me- 
morable revolution, and which their sons will always resolutely 
defend : we therefore now renew, at the foot of the throne, our 
claim to the indispensable right of the subject, a full, free, and 
unmutilated parliament, legally chosen in all its members : a 
right which this house of commons have manifestly violated, 
depriving, at their will and pleasure, the county of Middlesex 
of one of its legal representatives, and arbitrarily nominating 
as a knight of the shire, a person not elected by a majority of 
the freeholders. 

As the only constitutional means of reparation now left for 
the injured electors of Great Britain, we implore, with most 
urgent supplication, the dissolution of this present parliament, 
the removal of evil ministers, and the total extinction of that 
fatal influence, which has caused such a national discontent. 
In the mean time, sire, we offer our constant prayers to heaven 
that your majesty may reign, as kings can only reign, in and by 
the hearts of a loyal, dutiful, and free people." 

His majesty, who was surrounded by his secretaries of state, 
the lords of the bedchamber, and a numerous court, imme- 
diately delivered the following answer : 

" I should have been wanting to the public, as well as to 
myself, if I had not expressed my dissatisfaction at the late 
address. 

My sentiments on that subject continue the same ; and I 
should ill deserve to be considered as the father of my people, 
if I should suffer myself to be prevailed upon to make such an 
use of my prerogative, as I cannot but think inconsistent with 
the interest, and dangerous to the constitution of the kingdom.'' 

This answer had been, of course, anticipated, and Mr. Home, 
who was determined to give celebrity to the mayoralty of his 



i^'♦> SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

friend, Mr. Beckford, at the same time that he supported th( 
common cause, had suggested the idea of a reply to the sove- 
reign : a measure hitherto unexampled in our history. Accord- 
ingly, the moment the king had concluded, the first magistrate 
of the first city of the empire, who was dressed in the robes, 
and decorated with the insignia of office, instead of kissing 
hands, as usual, and then withdrawing, immediately approached 
the throne, and expressed himself nearly as follows, to the great 
surprise of his majesty, and the utter astonishment of the 
courtiers who surrounded him : 
" Most gracious sovereign ! 

Will your majesty be pleased so far to condescend, as to per- 
mit the mayor of your loyal city of London to declare in youi- 
royal presence, on behalf of his fellow-citizens, how much the 
bare apprehension of your majesty's displeasure would at all 
times affect their minds ! The declaration of that displeasure 
has already filled them with inexpressible anxiety and with the 
deepest afl^liction. 

Permit me, sire, to assure your majesty, that your majesty 
has not, in all your dominions, any subjects more faithful, more 
dutiful, or more ready to sacrifice their lives and fortunes in the 
maintenance of the true honour and dignity of your crown. 

We do, therefore, with the greatest humility and submission, 
most earnestly supplicate your majesty, that you will not dis- 
miss us from your presence without expressing a more favor- 
able opinion of yoin* faithful citizens, and without some comfort, 
without some prospect at least of redress. 

Permit me, sire, farther to observe, that whoever has already 
dared, or shall hereafter endeavor, by false insinuations and 
suggestions, to alienate your majesty's aflfections from your loyal 
subjects in general, and from the city of London in particular, 
is an enemy to your majesty's person and family, a violator of 
the public peace, and a betrayer of our happy constitution, as 
it was established at the glorious revolution." 

Immediately on his return, Mr. Beckford communicated this 
tiovel circumstance to the members of the corporation, and 
dying soon after, by an unanimous vote of the city a statue of 
their chief magistrate was erected on purpose to commemorate 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 181 

the event. The lord mayor, adorned with his robes of office, 
is represented in the attitude in which he addressed the throne ; 
while the speech in reply, delivered by him on this singular 
occasion, is engraved in golden characters on the pedestal. 
This, as Mr. Home lately acknowledged to me, was his com- 
position, and in consequence of that circumstance he was 
accustomed to exclaim, " that he could not be deemed a vain 
man, as he had obtained statues for others, but never for him- 
self!" 

On this, as on the former occasion, he inserted a description 
of the procession, the speech of the recorder, and the rejoinder 
of the lord mayor, in the newspapers. No one was better cal- 
culated to give copies of those harangues than the person who 
had furnished the originals ; and as to the occurrences at St. 
James's, he was enabled to detail the particulars from the lips 
of the members of the deputation. He concluded with the 
following satirical passage, conveyed under the form of a N. B. 

" The writer of the above account having given gi'eat offence 
to some persons, by inserting in a former paper, that Nero 
fiddled whilst Rome was burning — and an information having 
been filed by the attorney-general against the printer in conse- 
quence, he takes this opportunity to declare, that it was not his 
intention to falsify an historical fact, or to give offence to better 
memories ; he hopes, therefore, that it will be admitted as a 
recompence, if he now declares, that Nero did not fiddle whilst 
Rome was burning." 

In regard to the transactions detailed above, on examination 
it will be found as heretofore, that Junius and Home are so 
closely allied as to render their separation extremely difficult. 

It will appear that the remonstrance and petition of the city 
of London, as well as the address to the king by the lord 
mayor, Mr. Beckford, botii known to be written by Mr. Horne, 
besides the remonstrance of the city of Westminster, are all 
included among the notes subjoined to the letters of Junius in 
G. Woodfall's edition, in conformity to the plan as devised by 
the author, for embodying the complete Political Works of 
Junius. 



182 SKETCH OE THE LIFE OF 

We will now see what Junius says in regard to these petitions, 
remonstrances, &c. 

MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS, No. 70. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

March 10, 1770. 

Sir, — No man is more warmly attached to the best of princes 
than I am. I reverence his personal virtues, as much as I 
respect his understanding, and I am happy to find myself under 
the government of a prince, whose temper and abilities do equal 
honor to his character. At the same time, I confess, I did not 
hear without astonishment of the answer which some evil- 
minded counsellors advised him to return to the sheriffs of the 
city of London.* For a king of Great Britain to take time to 
consider, whether he will or will not receive a petition from his 
subjects, seems to me to amount to this, that he will take time to 
consider whether he will or will not adhere to the fourth article 
of the Declaration of Rights. One would think that this could 
never have been a question in the mind of so gracious a prince, 
if there were not some very dangerous advice given in the closet. 
I now hearthatit has been signified to the sheriffs, that his majesty 
cannot receive the petition, until he is informed of the nature of 
the assembly, in which it was composed. A king indeed is not 
obliged to understand the political forms and constitution of 
every corporation in his dominions, but his ministers must be 
uncommonly ignorant who could not save him the embarrass- 
ment of asking such a question concerning the first body cor- 
porate perhaps in the world. The sheriffs, I presume, will 



* The following are the particulars of the dispute which occurred in present- 
ing the petition of the 14th of March, 1770. 

On Wednesday the 7th, the sheriffs attended at St. James's to know his 
Majesty's pleasure, when he would be waited on with the city address, remon- 
strance, and petition. 

To which his Majesty was pleased to return the following answer: 

" As the case is entirely new, I will take time to consider of it, and transmit 
you an answer by one of my principal secretaries of state." — Ed. 

Then follow a letter from lord Weymouth to the sheriffs, and an account of 
their subsequent inter\iew with his Majestv, &c. — .4m. Edit. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 



183 



hardly venture to satisfy so unusual an inquiry upon their own 
bare authority. They will naturally move the lord mayor to 
summon another common hall, to answer for themselves ; and 
then, I doubt not, the corporation of the city of London will 
fully explain, to those whom it may concern, who they are, and 
lohat is the nature of their assembly. After all, sir, I do not 
apprehend that the propriety of the king's receiving a petition 
from any of his subjects depends in the least upon their quality 
or situation. He is bound by the declaration and subsequent 
Bill of Rights to receive all petitions from his subjects. What 
notice or answer the contents of them may deserve, must be 
considered afterwards. To refuse the petition itself is against 
law. I am persuaded, however, that nothing can be farther 
from the intention of our gracious sovereign, than to offer a 
gross affront to the whole city of London. It is evident that 
the ministry either mean to gain time for carrying some poor 
counter-measure, by means of the wretched dependants of the 
court, or to intimidate the city magistrates, and deter them from 
doing their duty. I think it therefore absolutely necessary for 
us to rouse in defence of the honor of the city, and demonstrate 
to the ministry, by the spirit and vigor of our proceedings, that 
we are not, what they are pleased to represent us, the scum of 
the earth, and the vilest and basest of mankind. 

MODERATUS. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

March 19, 1770. 
Sir, — I believe there is no man, however indifferent about 
the interests of this country, who will not readily confess, that 
the situation to which we are now reduced, whether it has 
arisen from the violence of faction, or from an arbitrary system 
of government, justifies the most melancholy apprehensions, and 
calls for the exertion of whatever wisdom or vigor is left among 
us. The king's answer to the remonstrance of the city of 
London,* and the measures since adopted by the ministry. 



* The city of London, the city and liberty of Westminster, tlie counties o! 
Middlesex, Surry, &c. had presented petitions to Iiis majesty to dissolve the par- 
liament, in consequence of the illesal rojection of Wilkes by tlie lower house. 



184 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

amount to a plain declaration, that the principle on which Mr. 
Luttrell was seated in the house of commons, is to be supported 
in all its consequences, and carried to its utmost extent. The 
same spirit which violated the freedom of election, now invades 
the declaration and bill of rights, and threatens to punish the 
subject for exercising a privilege hitherto undisputed, of petition- 
ing the crown. The grievances of the people are aggravated by 
insults ; their complaints not merely disregarded, but checked 
by authority ; and every one of those acts against which they 
remonstrated, confirmed by the king's decisive approbation. At 
such a moment, no honest man will remain silent or inactive. 
However distinguished by rank or property, in the rights of 
freedom we are all equal. As we are Englishmen, the least 
considerable man among us has an interest equal to the proudest 
nobleman in the laws and constitution of his country, and is 
equally called upon to make a generous contribution in support 
of them ; whether it be the heart to conceive, the understand- 
standing to direct, or the hand to execute. It is a common 
cause in wliich we are all interested, in which we should all be 
engaged. The man who deserts it at this alarming crisis, is an 
enemy to his country, and, what I think of infinitely less impor- 
tance, a traitor to his sovereign. The subject, who is truly 
loyal to the chief magistrate, will neither advise nor submit to 
arbitrary measures. The city of London have given an example, 
which, I doubt not, will be followed by the whole kingdom. 
The noble spirit of the metropolis is the life blood of the state, 
collected at the heart : from that point it circulates, with health 
and vigor, through every ai'tery of the constitution. The time 



after hnving been returned for the fourth time as a knight of the shire for tlie 
county of Middlesex. These petitions had not been graciously received : and 
the petitioners next assumed a bolder tone, and approached the throne with 
remonslrances upon the answers that had been returned to them. The remon- 
strance presented by the city of Westminster is contained in note to Private 
f^etter, No. 22. The remonstrance of the lord mayor, aldermen, and livery, here 
referred to, was, after some difficulty, presented to his majesty, March 14, 1770. 
For the particulars of this dispute, see editor's note to Miscellaneous Letters, No- 
Lxx. The following is a copy of the remonstrance, &c. Ed. 

Then are inserted the London petitions &c. — his majesty's answers — and the 
liivd mayor's address to the kinir.— .z?*)). FaHI. 



.lOHN HORNfi TOOKK. 185 

IS come when the body of the EngUsh people must assert their 
own cause : conscious of their strength, and animated by a 
sense of their duty, they will not surrender their birth-right to 
ministers, parliaments, or kings. 

The city of London have expressed their sentiments with 
freedom and firmness ; they have spoken truth boldly ; and, in 
whatsoever light their remonstrance may be represented by 
courtiers, / defi/ the most subtle lawyer in this country to point 
out a single instance in which they have exceeded the truth.* 
Even that assertion which we are told is most offensive to par- 
liament, in the theory of the English constitution, is strictly true. 
If any part of the representative body be not chosen by the 
people, that part vitiates and corrupts the whole. If there be a 
defect in the representation of the people, that power, which 
alone is equal to the making of the laws in this country, is not 
complete, and the acts of parliament, under that circumstance, 
are not the acts of a pure and entire legislature. I speak of the 
theory of our constitution ; and whatever difficulties or incon- 
veniences may attend the practice, I am ready to maintain that 
as far as the fact deviates from the principle; so far the prac- 
tice is vicious and corrupt. I have not heard a question 
raised upon any other part of the remonstrance. That the 
principle on which the Middlesex election was determined, is 
more pernicious in its effects than either the levying of ship- 
money by Charles the First, or the suspending power assumed 
by his son, will hardly be disputed by any man who understands 
or wishes well to the English constitution. It is not an act of 
open violence done by the king, or any direct or palpable breach 
of the laws attempted by his minister, that can ever endanger 
the liberties of this country. Against such a king or minister 
the people would immediately take the alarm, and all parties 
unite to oppose him. The laws may be grossly violated in 
particular instances, without any direct attack upon the whole 
system. Facts of that kind stand alone ; they are attributed to 
necessity, not defended upon principle. We can never be reallj' 



This appears very like the language of an author vidtrating his own works, 

* 23 



186 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

in danger, until the forms of parliament are made use of to 
destroy the substance of our civil and political liberties ; until 
parliament itself betrays its trust, by contributing to establish 
new principles of government, and employing the very weapons 
committed to it by the collective body to stab the constitution. 
As for the terms of the remonstrance, I presume it will not 
be affirmed, by any person less polished than a gentleman usher, 
that tliis is a season for compliments. Our gracious king, indeed, 
is abundantly civil to himself. Instead of an answer to a petition, 
his majesty very graciously pronounces his own panegyric ; and 
I confess that, as far as his personal behaviour, or the royal 
purity of his intentions is concerned, the truth of those declara- 
tions which the minister has drawn up for his master, cannot 
decently be disputed. In every other respect, I affirm, that 
they are absolutely unsupported either in argument or fact : I 
must add, too, that supposing the speech were otherwise unex- 
ceptionable, it is not a direct answer to the petition of the city. 
His majesty is pleased to say, that he is always ready to receive 
the request of his subjects ; yet the sheriffs were twice sent 
back with an excuse; and it was certainty debated in council 
whether or no the magistrates of the city of London should be 
admitted to an audience. Whether the remonstrance be or be 
not injurious to parliament, is the very question between the 
parliament and the. people, and such a question as cannot be 
decided by the assertion of a third party, however respectable. 
That the petitioning for a dissolution of parliament is irrecon- 
cilable with the principles of the constitution, is a new doctrine. 
His majesty, perhaps, has not been informed, that the house of 
commons themselves, have by a formal resolution, admitted it 
to be the right of the subject. His majesty proceeds to assure 
us, that he has made the laws the rule of his conduct. Was it in 
ordering or permitting his ministers to apprehend Mr. Wilkes by 
a general warrant ? Was it in suffering his ministers to revive 
the obsolete maxim of nullum tempiis, to rob the duke of Port- 
land of his property, and thereby give a decisive turn to a 
county election ? Was it in erecting a chamber consultation of 
surgeons, with authority to examine into and supersede the 
legal verdict of a jury ? Or did his majesty consult the laws of 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 



187 



his coimtiy, when he permitted his secretary of state to declare, 
that, whenever the civil magistrate is trifled with, a miUtary 
force must be sent for, witJwut the delay of a moment, and 
effectually employed ? Or was it in the barbarous exactness 
with which this illegal, inhuman doctrine was carried into execu- 
tion ? If his majesty had recollected these facts, I think he would 
never have said, at least with any reference to the measures of 
his government, that he had made the laws the rule of his conduct. 
To talk of preserving the affections, or relying on the support 
of his subjects, while he continues to act upon these principles, 
is, indeed, paying a compliment to their loyalty, which, I hope, 
they have too much spirit and understanding to deserve. 

His majesty, we are told, is not only punctual in the perform- 
ance of his own duty, but careful not to assume any of those 
powers which the constitution has. placed in other hands. 
Admitting this last assertion to be strictly true, it is no way to 
the purpose. The city of London have not desired the king to 
assume a power placed in other hands. If they had, I should 
hope to see the person who dared to present such a petition 
immediately impeached. They solicit their sovereign to exert 
that constitutional authority which the laws have vested in him, 
for the benefit of his subjects. They call upon liim to make 
use of his lawful prerogative in a case which our laws evidently 
supposed might happen, since they have provided for it by 
trusting the sovereign with a discretionary power to dissolve the 
parliament. This request will, I am confident, be supported 
by remonstrances from all parts of the kingdom. His majesty 
will find, at last, that this is the sense of his people ; and that 
it is not his interest to support either mmistry or parliament at 
the hazard of a breach with the collective body of his subjects. 
That he is king of a free people, is indeed his greatest glory. 
That he may long continue the king of a free people is the 
second wish that animates my heart. The first is, that the 
people may he free. JUNIUS. 

It was about this time that the zeal of this industrious politi- 
cian contrived a new mode of attack on an administration, 
which was pecuUarly odious to him, and, it must be fairly con- 



188 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

fessed, not a little obnoxious to the nation at large. T acitus 
has observed, with his usual penetration, that the spirit of resis- 
tance first displays itself in great cities ; as in these, men pos- 
sess frequent opportunities of comparing grievances and forming 
plans for the redress of their real wrongs. And this effect was 
now actually produced in the British capital by the ministers 
themselves. 

This was deemed a favorable conjuncture, therefore, to 
organize a new, as well as formidable species of opposition, 
and, by means of political associations, to concentrate the 
hitherto unheeded resentments and influence of a number of 
scattered individuals into one formidable mass, which, without 
either the forms or restraints of a body politic, should produce 
all the spirit, zeal, and effect of a great corporation. Clubs, 
such as these alluded to, seem to have been unknown to the 
free states of antiquity, the inhabitants of which usually recurred 
to arms in the first instance, and fought rather than deliberated. 
Like the press, they constitute a modern and formidable engine, 
and have accordingly been viewed with a certain degree of 
jealousy by every government. These institutions, which may 
be traced to Italy during the middle ages, appear to have origi- 
nated in this country about the time of the civil wars, and the 
first one, perhaps, mentioned in our history, is the " Rota," in 
which questions were finally decided by means of a ballot.* 

A multitude of associations of this kind had been suddenly 
created, and were either denominated after the places in which 
they assembled, such as " Appleby's" and the " Standard Ta- 
vern," or designated by the views of the leading members, like 
the " Antigallicans," the " Retrospection," &c. These being 
generally more numerous than respectable, it was at length 
determined, in 1769, to form one, which should have for its 
main object the preservation of the constitution, as it had been 
estabUshed at the revolution, and at the suggestion of Mr. Home, 
who may be considered as the founder, it assumed the denomi- 
nation of the " Society for supporting the Bill of Rights." This 



See the Life of Harrington, prefixed to the " Oceana." 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 189 

met at stated times, at the London Tavern, and the following 
appear to have been the original members : 

Sir John Bernard, bart. 

Sir Francis Blake Delaval, K. B. 

Sir Joseph Mawbey, bart. 

Mr. sergeant Glynn, M. P. for the county of Middlesex. 

Lord Mountniorris. 

Rev. Dr. Wilson, rector of St. Stephen, Walbroke. 

Rev. John Home. 

Mr. sergeant Adair, afterw^ards recorder of London. 

The alderman Wilkes, M. P. for Middlesex. 

Sawbridge, M. P. for London. 

Oliver, M. P. for London. 

Townshend, M. P. for Calne. 

Robert Morris, esq. a barrister, was chosen honorary secre- 
tary; and 

William Tooke, esq. treasurer. 

This society was originally instituted for the express purpose 
of supporting all those whose rights had been violated, whose 
fortunes had been injured, or whose persons had been seized 
and imprisoned, in opposition to the laws of the land. The 
members were few at first, but respectable both for wealth and 
talents. Their meetings, their speeches, their resolutions, and, 
above all their subscriptions, were attended with powerful effects. 
They inflamed the zeal of each other ; they inspired the public 
mind with energy, vigor, and resentment ; they supported those 
who were doomed to expiate their political offences by a rigor- 
ous imprisonment ; and they found means to agitate some 
critical questions in the courts of justice, the decision of which 
was attended with wonderful effect. Mr. Home, as has already 
been intimated, was a leading man in this society ; and there is 
reason to suppose, that he either drew up the whole or part of 
the following instructions, intended to be presented by way of 
test, to all candidates, before their election to serve in parlia- 
ment. 

Resolves of the supporters of the Bill of Rights, on the 23d 
of July, 1771, at the London Tavern. 



190 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

[These resolves are here omitted, but will appear in the 
correspondence of Junius and Wilkes.] 

Mr. Stephens, so far from having any reason to suppose that 
Mr. Home had any hand in drawing up the instructions referred 
to, must have known, by his own showing, that Mr. Home had 
quit the Bill of Rights Society nearly five months before the 
Resolves here enumerated were passed. But Junius, in his 
private letters to Wilkes, severely criticises these resolutions, to 
some of which he was strongly opposed, particularly that which 
recommends annual parliaments. For this reason alone it is 
here fraudulently attempted to make Mr. Home the author of 
them. Mr. Stephens was, no doubt, instructed, when confi- 
dential communications were made to him, not only to suppress 
some facts, but to give a latitude to his remarks tending to 
establish erroneous opinions. I shall hereafter produce a more 
glaring instance than the one under consideration, of his endea- 
vor to mislead his readers. His object for so doing cannot be 
mistaken. 

It will soon appear from the correspondence of Home and 
Wilkes, that the former quit the Society on the 26th of February, 
1771. Wilkes, in a letter to Home, dated June 20, more than 
a month before the passing of the resolves alluded to, says, 
" Although you have deserted the Society, it is still incumbent 
on you to acquaint them of any fraud or collusion you have 
discovered." 

Mr. Stephens himself, a few pages after he had attributed the 
authorship of those resolves to Mr. Home, says, " The dispute 
concerning this individual, (Bingley, which happened Feb. 26,) 
caused the dissolution of the club, known by the denomination 
of the ' Supporters of the Bill of Rights.' This was imme- 
diately followed by the institution of the ' Constitutional So- 
ciety.' " 

Mr. Stephens continues his memoir as follows : 

The publications and donations of this society appeal', indeed, 
to have produced a wonderful effect on the public mind. It was 
in this, and similar assemblies, that the question relative to the 
Middlesex election, by being frequently debated, still continued 



JOHN HORNE TOOKi;. 19] 

to harass ministers, and irritate the people against them. It 
was there, also, that the doctrine of interrogatories was first 
probed to the quick ; that the right of commitment on the part 
of the house of commons was originally agitated, and rendered 
doubtful ; while, by the spirited intervention of the members, a 
humble mechanic, with right on his side, was enabled to foil the 
lord chief justice of England. 

By means of tliis association, the press was enabled to con- 
tend on more equal terms against the current of power. The 
printers of three popular newspapers were encouraged and 
supported by its votes and its bounty ; and it not unfrequently 
happened, that a sentence of the court of King's Bench, instead 
of overwhelming with poverty, contributed not a little to the 
prosperity of the delinquent. In consequence of its unabating 
exertions too, the debts of Mr. Wilkes, to a very large amount, 
were either paid or compounded ; and it seems to have been 
the general intention, not only to have cleared him from all 
incumbrances, but to have crowned the whole, by purchasing 
a large annuity, which, together with the remainder of his 
fortune, would have placed him equally above want and mean- 
ness. 

But this society, originally intended for general purposes, 
was at length narrowed, by the arts of a few interested persons, 
into a committee for the exclusive benefit of a single indivi- 
dual. Mr. Home, although he had taken an active part to pro- 
mote the success and relieve the distresses of Mr. Wilkes, was 
of course indignant at the idea. In addition to this, at that 
very moment he had two favorite plans in view, connected 
with each other and with the common cause ; both of which he 
wished to be powerfully supported by the influence, the repu- 
tation, and the treasury of the Bill of Rights. One of these 
respected a point of law intimately connected with the liberty 
of the subject ; the other had for its object the freedom of the 
press, and the right of the constituents to become acquainted 
with the deliberations of their representatives on public affairs. 
Of these two questions, he wished to agitate the former imme- 
diately. 

A printer, of the name of Bingley, had been prosecuted for 



192 SKETCH OP THE LIFE Or 

publishing a letter, from Mr. Wilkes, reflecting on the adminis- 
tration and the courts of justice. On this occasion, the evidence 
being too defective for conviction, lord Mansfield adopted a 
novel, and, as it finally proved, an illegal mode of proceedings 
never before practised since the abolition of the star chamber : 
foi', in express defiance of that noble principle of English juris- 
prudence, which wisely and humanely precludes a party from 
criminating himself, this great man, had been induced from his 
hatred to libels, by which his own character was now almost 
daily assailed, to examine this person, and, if possible, extract 
a confession of guilt from his own mouth. He accordingly 
made a ruleof court, for this express purpose, and appointed a 
day to answer certain questions, on failure of which, he was to 
be committed for contempt. 

The doctrine of conviction, by means of interrogatories, 
here alluded to, is familiar to the imperial law, in which, the 
intervention of a jury, that noble bulwark of gothic liberty, is 
unknown, an arbitrary power of decision being placed in the 
breast of a single man. This mode of proceeding was at 
length adopted in the ecclesiastical courts of this country, and 
continued forages, until it was enacted by statute,* that it shall 
not be lawful for any bishop or ecclesiastical judge, to tender 
or administer to any person whatsoever, any oath, whereby he 
may be compelled to confess, accuse, or purge himself of any 
criminal matter, by which he might be liable to punishment. 
Our municipal tribunals, indeed, never once entertained the 
idea of obliging a man to disclose his own guilt ; but the learned 
judge, just alluded to, chose to consider this particular case, as 
a flagrant contempt of court, on which occasion, an attachment 
usually issues, and the party must either stand committed, or put 
in bail, in order to answer upon oath to such interrogatories as 
shall be administered to him, for the better information of the 
judges presiding. 

Such was precisely the case of Bingley, and a man less reso- 
lute would have sunk under the pressure of authority. Even 
he, perhaps, might either have been terrified, or persuaded to 

* IS Car. II. c. 12. 



JOHN HORNE TOOKB. 



193 



yield, but for the subject of this memoir, who held out the 
prospect of fame and of advantage ; and, at length, succeeded 
in giving the appearance of a public, and even a national cause, 
to what at first had been a mere act of self-defence, on the part 
of an obscure mechanic. The vicar of Brentford rejoiced at 
an opportunity of once more entering the lists with this eminent 
judge ; and by long study and painful research, had endeavored 
to qualify himself for the arduous contest. After tracing the 
stream of our laws to their fountain-head, and drinking at the 
source, he conceived that they had been rendered obscure and 
sophisticated in their descent. He had long viewed the conduct 
of the earl of Mansfield with a suspicious eye, and, on compar- 
ing his doctrines with those of lord Coke and the celebrated 
men of former times, he thought he had discovered certain 
assumptions of power, neither justified by the text nor the prac- 
tice of our ancient institutions. He rejoiced, therefore, at the 
happy occasion, now presented by fortune, to vindicate the 
principles of our municipal code, and, if possible, to humble a 
nobleman, whom he was pleased afterwards to compare not 
only to the Tresylians, the Keylings, and the Scroggs, but even 
to the JefTeries of former dayis. 

Nor was he on this occasion wholly disappointed. Having 
called on the object of prosecution, he communicated his 
opinion of the injustice committed in respect to him, and found 
means to inspire this man with a stubborn determination to 
resist. Proud of the protection and encouragement he now 
received, fully convinced that he was correct in point of law, 
and holding himself forth as a martyr for liberty, at a time 
when all such were sure of support, this printer, hardly serious 
at first, and who might at any time have been liberated on a 
slight acknowledgment, now evinced all the courage of a hero. 
Flaming with zeal, he not only braved the rigors of a long con- 
finement, but actually found means to take a voluntary oath, 
before a magistrate, in which he swore, " sooner to perish in a 
jail than violate the freedom of his native country, by answering 
to interrogatories, I'lnlesspul to the torture :" a resolution from 
which he never once swerved. 

This person was now in (he third year of his imprisonment 

•25 



194 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

unci the vicar of Brentford, who had occasionally supplied hi^ 
necessities, determined to raise a large subscription for, and thus 
fully indemnify him, for the losses he had sustained. Several 
opulent and respectable men had come forward on this occasion, 
and advanced sums to a considerable amount ; but the name 
and influence of the " Bill of Rights" was still wanting. This, 
however, was supposed to follow of course ; and no doubt, 
indeed, could have been entertained of it, but for the interpo- 
sition of that very person, for whose writings the printer had 
already experienced a long and unprecedented confinement, 
and who now affected to think, and to declare, that the society 
was solely devoted to his support, and pledged for the relief of 
his necessities alone. Accordingly, when it was moved, " that 
a subscription, to the amount of five hundred pounds, be opened 
for Mr. Bingley, for having refused to answer interrogatories, 
and submit to the illegal mode of attachment," the patriotic 
alderman, his brother, his attorney, and a great body of his 
friends, found means to negative the proposition, although it 
had been repeatedly urged, that it was extremely politic at that 
moment, in order to encourage the printers to resist the menaces 
of the house of commons, and that the abandonment of this 
spirited individual to his fate, would inevitably produce doubt, 
distraction, and despondency. 

Bingley, however, was amply rewarded for his zeal and per- 
severance ; and, while he himself thus acquired a certain degree 
of consequence, he became, at the same time the humble, but 
meritorious instrument of great and lasting advantages to the 
community at large. Before such a cause, supported with such 
intrepidity and resolution, even lord Mansfield himself was 
obliged to succumb. Tired with a struggle which, while it laid 
him open to the most invidious accusations, on the part of his 
enemies, seemed to tarnish the lustre of his reputation in the 
eyes of his friends, and alarmed also, perhaps, at the threats of 
parliamentary investigation, he at length reluctantly consented 
to yield. The attorney-general was, therefore, instructed to 
move the court of King's Bench, for the discharge of the pri- 
soner ; and the latter was accordingly restored to his liberty, 
his family, and society, neither ruined nor dismayed by a per- 



JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 195 

sonal contest with the greatest chief justice which England had 
beheld since the days of lord Coke. Thus, to the pertinacity 
of a petty artisan, aided, counselled, and supported by the 
minister of Brentford, the nation is indebted for the abolition of 
a practice, unsanctioned by our admirable municipal code ; and 
wliich, although it might have occasionally entrapped a criminal, 
would have rendered the laws nugatory, and innocence itself 
insecure.* 

The dispute concerning this individual was productive of a 
variety of remarkable, although far inferior events, particu- 
larly the dissolution of the club, known by the denomination of 
the " Supporters of the Bill of Rights." This was immediately 
followed by the institution of the " Constitutional Society, con- 
sisting chiefly of the most respectable of the old members, 
with an exclusion, however, of the Wilkites ; and doubtless 
gave birth to the " Whig Club," the " Friends of the People," 
and the " London Corresponding Society," in after times. Other 
results, which followed this singular contest, will be noticed 
hereafter ; more especially the paper contest between the twd 



* Junius thus notices the case of Bingley, in a letter addressed to lord Mans- 
field, dated Nov. 14, 1770: 

" The injustice done to an individual* is sometimes of service to the public. 
Facts are apt to alarm us more than the most dangerous principles. The suffer- 
ings and firmness of a printer have roused the public attention. You knew and 
felt that your conduct would not bear a parliamentary inquiry ; and you hoped 
to escape it by the meanest, the basest sacrifice of dignity and consistency that 
ever was made by a great magistrate. Where was your firmness, where was 
that vindictive spirit, of which we have seen so many examples, when a man so 
inconsiderable as Bingley could force you to confess, in the face of this country, 
that, for two years together, you had illegally deprived an English subject of his 
liberty, and that he had triumphed over you at last ? Yet, I own, my lord, that 
yours is not an uncommon character. Women, and men like women; are timid, 
vindictive, and irresolute. Their passions counteract each other, and make the 
same creature at one moment hateful, at another contemptible. I fancy, my 
lord, some time will elapse before you venture to commit another Englishman 
for refusing to answer interrogatories." 



* Tlie oppression of an obscure individual gave birtli to the famous Habeas Corpus Act of 31 
Car. II. which is frequently considered as another Magna Charta of this kingdom. — Blackstonc 
iii. 13.1. 



196 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNB 

chiefs, which occasioned a fatal schism among the friends ot 
the common cause ; and, while it displayed the literary powers 
of the two principal combatants, afforded ample exultation to 
the enemies of both ; and, like wars of another kind, finally 
proved of but little service to either of the belligerents. 



CHAPTER XIL 

LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE TO JOHN WILKES. 
1771. 

It was almost impossible, from the nature of human affairs, 
that two such men as Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Home could agree 
during any long period ; for their characters, dispositions, and 
ultimate aims, were entirely dissimilar. The one, perpetually 
instigated by his necessities, endeavored to convert the current 
of public generosity to his own private advantage ; while the 
other, at once economical and disinterested, wished to distri- 
bute it into different channels, for the benefit and advantage of 
the community at large. In addition to this, they were both 
gifted with superior talents ; and both equally avaricious of 
fame, although they approached her temple by different paths. 
Each, also, perhaps, considered himself best calculated for 
command, and most worthy of pubhc esteem. 

The minister of Brentford was, indeed, desirous of rendering 
the alderman of London independent, not out of any personal 
regard to him, but merely with a view of proving to the world, 
that, in a free country, it is not in the power of a premier to 
ruin and overwhelm an individual, whose cause was of a public 
nature. He was anxious, at the same time, however, that the 
man menaced with ministerial vengeance should conduct him- 
self with propriety . Accordingly, instead of flattering his follies, 
he had loudly protested against his luxurious mode of life, and 
expressed both his own and the public dissatisfaction at the laced 
liveries and French domestics of a person supported by the 



TO JOHN WII-KE6. 



197 



bounty of others. When a verdict of four thousand pounds 
had been obtained against lord Hahfax, for his misconduct 
relative to general w^arrants, he represented the propriety of 
appropriating that sum towards the payment of his own debts : 
this proposition, however, was rejected ; and no motives of 
policy, honesty, or shame, could induce him to debar himself 
of a single luxury, or advance a single shilling to his creditors. 

In addition to these original causes of estrangement, there 
existed others of a peculiar nature. Mr. Wilkes always hated, 
or rather despised, the Americans ; and, even during his con- 
finement in the King's Bench, laughed at and ridiculed their 
pretensions to an independent legislative right of internal taxa- 
tion. But no sooner did he receive a flattering letter from the 
Bostonians, accompanied by a valuable present, than the repre- 
sentative for Middlesex changed his mind, and transmitted a 
flaming reply, in which he maintained, " that the colonies were 
the propugnacula imperii^''* and himself a " friend to universal 
liberty !" This glaring versatility, as usual, produced repeated, 
but ineffectual remonstrances on the part of his coadjutor, but 
without any profitable eflfect.f On the contrary, these remon- 
strances were combated with the keen and ready weapons of 
wit, irony, and sarcasm, until a breach at length became inevi- 
table ; and the dispute relative to Bingley only contributed to 
hasten those hostilities, which could not have been much longer 
protracted. 

This memorable contest took place in 1770, in consequence 
of an account that appeared in one of the newspapers, of a 
meeting of the electors of Westminster, relative to an impeach- 
ment of lord North. The writer appearing to reflect on Mr. 
Wilkes, who had taken the chair on this occasion, that gentle- 
man replied with some asperity, under his own signature, in a 



* Bulwark of the empire. 

f The above hints sufficiently show, that Mr. Home, like Junius, did not favor 
the American opposition to the Stamp Act, the project of their favorite, George 
Grenville. 



198 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE 

letter dated " Westminster, Nov. 15," beginning with the foU 
lowing quotation from Churchill : — 

"Ah me ! what mighty perils wait 
The man who meddles with a state, " 
Whether to strengthen or oppose, 
False are his friends, and firm his foes !" 

He was, at the same time, seconded by two anonymous 
writers, who attacked Mr. Home as the author. 
To which Mr. Home replied in the Public Advertiser: — 

LETTER I. 

To Mr. Wilhs. 

Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1771. "^^ 

" Sir, — An agent of yours declared some time ago, that it 

would be useful to you and your affairs to come to an open 

rupture with me. — From this opinion has flowed all the abuse 

which has lately been bestowed upon me in the public papers. 



* Mr. Home upon this occasion addressed thirteen letters to Mr. Wilkes, and 
it is woilhy of remark that none of them are dated except the first and last, 
which latter has, at its conclusion, the date of the month only. The same defect 
is observable in Mr. Home's correspondence with Mr. Onslow. Tliis circum- 
stance drew my attention to the following remark of a correspondent of Mr. 
Barker, (see " Claims," p. 189,) who, in speaking of a letter from Junius to Gar- 
rick differing from that given by Woodfall, says, "The imperfection of the date 
(Monday) so characteristic of Junius, and the correctness of the intelligence 
about Mr. Ramus," &c. Not knowing upon what authority this assertion of 
peculiarity was made, I examined the private letters of Junius to Wilkes, and 
perceived that their dates were generally taken from the memorandums of their 
receipt by the latter. Those to Woodfall, for the most part, appear to be guessed 
at from their relation to the public letters. No. 19 is dated beginning of Feb. 
1770. 

I moreover ascertained, by inspecting a copy of Junius in the possession of 
Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill, printed for John Wheble, at London, in two volumes, 
that the first, published in 1770, does not contain a single date. This absurdity 
is avoided in the second volume, printed in 1771, no doubt, by assuming the dates 
of the newspapers in which the letters were first published. 

This very singular peculiarity observable in Junius and Home, is certainly not 
unworthy of notice, and is submitted to the consideration of the reader. 



TO JOHN WiLKEiS. 



199 



i believe you have mistaken a strong inclination for policy, and 
have yielded to a natural bias, in opposition to honesty and your 
interest. For near three weeks past, I have been pretty closely 
confined to my chamber by indisposition, and, except the Public 
Advertiser, have only seen such papers as my friends have 
brought to me, whose kindness made them feel, more sensibly 
than myself, the injuries you have offered me.* 

I have hitherto seen very little worthy of an answer, except 
the particular charges in the Gazetteer of last Tuesday. I 
think it due to the public, to my friends, and myself, to give to 
each as particular an answer. Sir, as I have never, either in 
public or private life, copied your example — I shall not do it in 
this my justification. Instead of a defence, your method has 
always been to recriminate. On the contraiy, I shall, in this 
letter, confine myself to the charges brought against me. In a 
future letter, I will explain the nature and causes of the differ- 
ences between us : they ought to be made public, because the 
objects are not private." 

" The charges, I think, are, — First, That ' I subscribed to the 
" Society of the Bill of Rights," but never paid one sliilling.' "j- 

" First, / never did subscribe any thing to the ' Society of the 
Bill of Rights J% It is true that, in the accounts of that society, 
there will be found Jive guineas of my money ; but these five 



* In consideration of the sympathy presu;;.ed to exist between Home and 
Junius, on reading the above, I was confident Junius could not be in good 
health at the time ; and, on examination, I found that no letter had appeared from 
Junius from Nov. 14, 1770, till Jan. 30, 1771 ; and that among his letters under 
other signatures only three short notes had been published within the period of 
Home's illness ; the whole contained in three pages and a half. 

t The other charges, being contained in the repUes, are omitted. 

% Home's declining to subscribe to tliis society appears to have arisen i'rom his 
disgust at the manner in which its funds were squandered to foster the profli- 
gacy of Wilkes. And it seems that Junius also had neglected any subscription, 
no doubt, for the same reason ; for Home expressly says, in a letter to Junius — 
and he must be a competent witness — that " Junius, any more than lord Chat- 
ham, never contributed one farthing to these enormous expenses." How Home 
knew tliis fact, except ho were Junius, I submit to the friends of Mr. Francis to 
decir^e^ 



200 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE 

guineas were paid by me at the moment of subscribing them, 
at the last subscription made at the King's Arms Tavern, in 
Cornhill, some time before the estabhshment of the society at 
the London Tavern. Nor do I recollect, at any time, to have 
subscribed any money without instantly paying down the small 
but numerous sums, I have contributed. These poor five 
guineas were received, and the account of them brought into the 

society by Mr. B . 

The second charge is, ' The amazing sums received by me for 
Mr. Glynn's election ; ten guineas each from most of his friends.' 
I must premise, that I have always carefully avoided three 
things ; I mean the being placed upon any public occasion in 
any situation of honour, trust, or profit, from which my name, 
and my station, and my inclination, equally dissuaded me. I 
have been regularly and indefatigably the drudge of almost 
every popular election, prosecution, and public business, — ^but 
never the object of any one. For three years past my time has 
been entirely, and my income almost wholly, apphed to public 
measures.* But, though with great caution, and sometimes 
obstinacy, I have taken care never to be the chairman of any 
company, nor the ostensible manager or conductor of any mat- 
ter ; yet I have not been able to avoid being, on three occasions, 
the receiver of money. One of them was the election of Mr, 
Glynn." 

[Mr. Home then gives an account of the receipts and expen- 
ditures in this case.] 

The third charge is, * That I have received subscriptions for 
the widow Bigby's appeal' The widow Bigby's appeal was 
not brought by my direction ; I do not mean that I disapprove 
it ; 1 commend the measure ; and if I had been applied to. 
should have advised it. I thbik the pardon granted to the 
murderers of Bigby was a horrid one, I think the same of the 



*■■ Including 1768—69 and 70. Junius began his political career April 2S, 
1767, but perhaps his time was not " entirely applied to public measures" daring 
the remainder of that year. 



JOHN WILKES: 1201 

pardon granted to M'Quirk, and I do not believe either of them 
lawful. Mr. Stamford, the attorney who was employed by the 
widow, applied to a gentleman of character and fortune in the 
city for assistance ; that gentleman brought Mr. Stamford to 
me, who told me what he had done, and what he intended to 
do ; but he declared himself unable to bear the expense and go 
on with the appeal, unless he was assisted immediately with 
money. I undertook the matter, made myself answerable to 
him, and assisted him with money ; and when I saw my friends 
I applied to them for their help, because I was unequal to the 
burden alone. I did not indeed foresee that any member of the 
house of commons would move for leave to bring in a bill to 
take away the right of appeal from the people in cases of murder; 
but I did foresee that lord Mansfield would make such a motion 
and such a bill unnecessary ; and that he would by studied 
delays and difficulties, most effectually take away the remedy 
of appeal, by showing us that the most eminent counsel at the 
bar are not able to proceed in such a course as to bring it to a 
trial : and I supposed that he would, as he has done, so protract 
the matter by shifting his difficulties and his doubts, that either 
the proceedings on the appeal should be dropped, from the 
enormity of the expense, or the obstinate virtue of the poor 
appellant have time to be cooled and corrupted. I expected 
only to show what has been shown, that lord Mansfield, who 
is so dexterous at removing difficulties and shortening the way 
to a conviction for libel, according to the modern method of 
prosecution, is as dexterous in finding out or creating obstacles 
to a trial in the ancient mode of appeal for murder, which was 
formerly the subject's only remedy.* And for this purpose I 
was willing, and did declare my willingness, to bear, if it was 
necessary, the whole expense of the prosecution. The few 



^- Something moro too iias been shown ; i. e. that the suggestions on which 
the pardon for the Kennedies was procured are false ; and that those who pro- 
cured it still know them to be guilty, or they would not so obstinately and corruptly 
liave opposed a fresh trial on the appeal, wliich was the only method to justify 
the pardon in an authentic manner, by producing the new circumstances which 
manifested their innocence. 

'30 



302 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORM; 

friends to whom I spoke on this occasion were of the same sen- 
timents ; and they contributed towards the appeal. 

I have received 110/. 16^. and I have paid to the attorney 
150/. ; and I have never been less in advance than I am at 
present, which is 39/. 4^. 

The fourth charge is, 'That I have received subscriptions foi^ 
Mr. Gillam's trial.' A copy of the indictment was illegally 
granted to Mr. Gillam, in order to intimidate and disgrace 
another gentleman and myself. When the request was made, 
the judges were at first divided : Mr. justice Aston and Mr- 
Recorder saw no objection to it, and they at last over-persuaded 
the lord chief baron Parker : Mr. justice Gould refused it to the 
last. Notwithstanding this copy of the indictment, I have never 
hesitated to declare, that I did promote and assist that prosecu- 
tion to the utmost of my power ; but I did not at any time 
receive a farthing from any person on the account of Mr. Gillam's 
trial, or any thing relative to it, and I do assert that there was 
no subscription for it. If you, sir, can discover a single person 
who paid any subscription to me, or to any other on that 
account, it is your business to name him ; otherwise we shall 
know how to name you. 

The fftk charge is, ' That I have received subscriptions for 
the affair of the weavers in Spital Fields.' I never did receive 
any subscription for the affair of the weavers in Spital Fields : 
there never was any subscription on that account, or any other 
relative to the weavers in Spital Fields. I took no small pains 
with other gentlemen, to save the lives of some innocent men ; 
but though one was petitioned for by the lord mayor and all 
the aldermen who sat on the bench at his trial, with the strongest 
circumstances in his favor, and though another was unanimously 
and strongly recommended to mercy by the jury, they were 
both hanged. — Their crime was not murder. — I believe we had 
better success in our endeavors to stop the further merciless 
persecution of that unhappy body of men ; but what we did 
was done without collecting money or subscription ; and I do 
not believe that any money was paid, except twenty pounds, 
which I gave out of my own pocket, towards procuring counsel 
foi; one Baker, a journeyman weaver, whom lord JMajisfiekl had 



lO JOHN WILKES. 203 

refused to admit to bail till term time, and till alter hearing- 
counsel ; although the same lord Mansfield confessed that he 
was committed on a charge for an offence bailable at the very 
first view, and which did not admit even the shadow of a doubt. 
If any person did subscribe on this account, to me or to any 
other, it is your business to name him. 

But, sir, there is one subscription more that I have received, 
and with which you have not charged me ; I mean a subscrip- 
tion of 941. lis. 9cL raised for you in my neighborhood, which 
I have brought into the society very lately, at the last meeting 
but one at the London Tavern. 

However before this subscription, I advanced in the payment 
of demands upon you, 381. Os. 8cl., which I am still to receive, 
and of the subscription itself, seven guineas still remain unpaid 
to me. 

Your last charge is, that I have received money for different 
publications, and you call upon me to lay before the public ' an 
account of the profits on my vamped up sermon. Mr. Foote's 
apology, Mr. Missing's letter,' &c. 

If you thought yourself justified in refusing to acknowledge 
to the injured person an anonymous writing,* how can you 
expect that I should give you an answer about pamphlets that 
bear other men's names ? It is true, I have always avowed 
whatever I have written anonjTnously, whenever any person 
has complained that he was injured ; as in the cases of Sir John 
Gibbons, Sir W. B. Proctor, Mr. Onslow, &c.;f it is my 
general rule when I am treated fairly ; but the rule does not 



* A note is inserted here, giving extracts from an anonymous pamphlet writ- 
ten by Mr. Wilkes, entitled " Annals of the mayoralty of Mr. Trecothick, in 
which he says, " on the true levelling principle of his countrymen, the Bostonians, 
he (Mr. Trecothick) likewise declared the late Mr. Beckford, that first of men, 
to whom the grateful citizens have decreed a statue for a long life of faithful 
services, only a good sort of man." &ic. This was published in June 1770; and 
shows that Mr. Wilkes was not at that time asupporterof the American cause. — 
Am. Edit. 

t Mr. Home here makes a pompous parade about giving up his name in the 
cases alluded to, which was by no means called for. Mr. Wilkes's demand as he 
says, was impertinent, and nothing else was required but to tell him so : whicli 



204 LETTERS FROlM JOHN HORNE 

them, there is no reflection upon you : when you attribute to me 
the pamphlets that bear the names of other men, and call for 
an answer, you are impertinent to me and injurious to them. 

JOHN HORNE." 

The above contains an answer to all the charges made against 
Mr. Home, amidst the asperity of party hostility ; and as it was 
followed soon after by letters from Mr. sergeant Glynn, Mr. W. 
Tooke, Messrs. Davis, and Mr. alderman Oliver, testifying the 
disinterestedness of his conduct, must be allowed to constitute 
an able, as w^ell as ample refutation of these calumnies. Not- 
withstanding this, and although all the independent and opulent 
men belonging to the ' Society of the Bill of Rights,' had taken 
the side of Mr. Home in this dispute ; yet the current of 
popular opinion now set in strongly against him. At the very 
time he was sacrificing all his prospects in life to advance the 
cause he had adopted, he was represented as a deserter from 
the side of liberty ; and more than once, was actually burnt in 
effigy in the metropolis. 

Notwithstanding this, after a short pause, he renewed the 
controversy, and proceeded in the month of May, 1771, to 
expose the character and conduct of Mr. Wilkes, as may be 

is all Mr. Home would have done, had he not had other motives than to satisfy 
Wilkes, or the public upon this subject. — Junius's letters haunted him. He was 
fearful of being suspected to be the author, and therefore took every opportunity 
to impress upon the public mind that, if he were, he would declare it. It so 
happens, however, that Mr. Home, in a subsequent letter to Mr. Wilkes, gives 
a diiferent statement to the above, in respect to one of the cases mentioned, or 
at least in reference to circumstances relating to it, as follows : 

" On Tuesday morning, March 22, 1768, I paid you the first visit in London. 
On Wednesday I inserted two advertisements levelled at the old members for 
Middlesex : for one of which the imprudent hastiness of Sir J. Gibbons made that 
gentleman afterwards publish my name." 

The declaration, therefore, of Mr. Home that, " It is true, I have always 
avowed whatever I have written anonymously, whenever any person has com- 
plained that he was injured," is disproved by himself. Did he not intend to 
injiure those old members in the estimation of the public ? And did he intend, in 
case they complained of the injury, to surrender his name? Certainly not; for 
that might have defeated his purpose. He undoubtedly, like other political 
writers, withheld or surrendered his name as best suited his views ; and his 
pretending to a contrary course, was one of the artifices by which he screened 
himself from suspicion in regard to the letters of .Junius. — .9m, Edit. 



TO JOHN WILKES. 205 

seen from their correspondence, which would nearly fill a 
volume. Some of this series of letters are therefore necessarily 
abridged ; without omitting, however, a single passage of any 
importance ; for though they were eagerly read by the nation 
at that period, yet after the lapse of more than forty years, they 
will of course have lost much of their zest as well as importance. 
Upon the whole, however, they must be allowed to contain, not 
only many interesting passages, but also to exhibit a variety of 
curious information relative to the history of that period. 



The same reasons that induced Mr. Stephens to abridge these 
letters, in 1813, operate more powerfully at this time, particu- 
larly in America. A farther and very considerable curtailment 
therefore will be made in this edition. In fact, my limits require 
me, not only to abridge the letters of Home, but to omit some 
entirely, and to reject the replies of Wilkes, excepting a part of 
his last letter. The whole subject may be perfectly understood 
by the letters of the former, which carry an internal evidence 
of their veracity ; and the shuffling evasions of his antagonist 
serve but to confuse and disgust the reader. This will fully 
appear by the sample that will be given. 

The politician will find much interest in these letters of 
Home, and, if he be a zealous personal party man, much instmc- 
tion. 

LETTER II. 

To Mr. John Wilkes. 

Sir, — You have said, ' The public have a right to truth, and 
every imposition on mankind ought to be detected and exposed.' 
I am not entirely of that opinion : I think there are certain 
seasons when some particular truths ought to be withheld ; and 
my lips should have been for ever closed on the subject of your 
real character and conduct, if you could by any motives have 
been persuaded, or by any art or contrivance have been com- 
pelled, to continue a voluntary or involuntary instrument of 
good to your country. I have long been with others, straggling 
to make it your interest to be honest, and founded all my hopes 
not on your principle but common sense. At length I despair 



"20t) LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE 

of any good from you, aiid apprehend much mischief : 1 think 
it therefore my duty to be no longer silent ; and I come to an 
explanation without any apprehension of disgrace ; because I 
know, diat though Wilkes and liberty may for a while bear down 
every thing before them in the street, yet, as far as they are not 
connected by public principles, they will surely be separated in 
the closet.* But whatever may be the opinions of any persons 
concerning my conduct, I shall not alter it : their uninformed 
opinions affect me little : I know my own situation ; I must 
ever I'emain a poor and a private man, and can never be a candi- 
date for the favor or confidence of the public. The voice of 
the people is not the voice of God to me, though (in the fair 
meaning of the word people) I have never thought it wrong ; 
but it is the voice within me that shall ever be the guide of my 
actions, f 



* Junius in a private letter to Wilkes, da* o'? ^jpt. 23, 1771, says, "Depend 
upon it, the perpetual union of Wilkes and mob does you no service. Not but 
that I love and esteem the mob. It is your interest to keep up dignity and 
gravity besides, I would not make myself cheap by walking the streets so much 
as you do. Verbtnn sat." — Am. Ed. 

t Junius in a private letter to Wilkes, dated Sept. 7, 1771, says, " I do not deny 
that I expect my opinions upon these points should have some degree of weight 
with you. I have served Mr. Wilkes and am still capable of serving him. I have 
faithfully served the public, without the possibility of a persowa? advantage." And 
in his letter to the same, dated the 18th of the same month, he says, " Besides 
every personal consideration, if I were known, I could no longer be an usefid servant 
to the public." 

In a letter of Junius addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, dated 
April 22, 1771, we notice the following remark : 

" But in truth, sir, I have left no room for an accommodation with the piety of 
St. James's. My offences arc not to be redeemed by recantation or repentance. 
On one side, our warmest patriots would disclaim me as a burthen to their Aonesf 
ambition. On the other, the vilest prostitution, if Junius could descend to it, 
would lose its natural merit and influence in the cabinet, and treachery be no 
longer a recommendation to the royal favor." 

In his letter addressed to the printer, dated August 13, 1771, he says, " As for 
myself, it is no longer a question whether I shall mix loith the thrcmg, and take a 
single share in the danger. Whenever Junius appears, he must encounter a host of 
enemies." 

Junius here alludes to himself personally as being in disrepute both with the 
administration and opposition parties ; and not as Junius, for in that character 
ho was a great favorite with the popular party. 



TO JOUN WILKKS. 'ZO'd 

It is not my intention here to open any account with you on 
the score of private character ; in that respect, the pubUc have 
kindly passed an act of insolvency in your favor : you have 
delivered up your all, and no man can fairly now make any 
demand, I blame your public conduct, and never had a dif- 
ference with you on any other subject ; and though it has 
suited your selfish politics to insinuate and pretend some private 
pique between us, yet you have not ventured, even anonymously, 
to suggest any particular cause of my dissatisfaction. 

That I may be well understood, it is necessary to give a short 
history of the commencement, progress, and conclusion of the 
intercourse between us ; and this I will begin to do in my next; 
not for my own justification, for I could be well contented to 
leave each man to his opinion concerning me : but that the 
people at large, to whose safety and happiness it is important, 
may be better able to form their judgment how far they ought, 
and how far they ought not, to support you ; and that they may 
perceive your general professions and protestations to be like 
those of last Wednesday's speech, equally calculated to mislead 
and impose, and to which eveiy particular act, as well of your 
opposition as of his govemment, is a flat contradiction. 

JOHN HORNE." 

LETTER m. 

To Mr. John Wilkes. 
a gjj.^ # # # # * jjj ^jjg ygj^j, 1-7(55 J repaired to Italy. Pass- 
ing through Paris, I delivered some letters to you ; amongst 
others, one of those letters from Mr. Onslow, which you have 
since pubUshed. Though this was the first time we ever saw 
each other, you exacted from me with very earnest entreaty, a 



Was there a single individual in England in the situation here described except- 
ing John Home? Junius was in high estimation, and as Mr. Home had lost his 
personal influence, was he not under this mask endeavoring to provide for his 
friends, and induce the popular party to adopt such measures as he thought would 
redound to tlie interest of his rnuulry? — .9m- F.d, 



208 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE 

promise of correspondence. I thought you at that time sincerely 
pubHc-spirited, and a man of honor ; I mean that sort of honor, 
which, though it does not restrain from bad, prevents men from 
being guiUy of mean actions. I wrote to you from Montpeher ; 
and having told you my profession, I disclaimed, in a joking 
manner, those vices, which from the dependent situation of its 
professors, are too frequently attendant on it — I mean hypocrisy, 
servility, and an abject attention to private interest. Receivuig 
no answer, I did not repeat my folly : and upon a second visit 
to you at Paris, on my retmTi from Italy to England, in the year 
1767, 1 saw reasons sufficient never more to trust you with a 
single line ; for I found that all the private letters of your 
friends were regularly pasted in a book, and read over indis- 
criminately, not only to your friends and acquaintance, but to 
every visitor. 

In this second visit at Paris you reproached me for not keep- 
ing my promise of correspondence, and swore you had not 
received my letter. I was very well contented, though I did 
not believe your excuse, and hugged myself in the reflection, 
that I had furnished you with only one opportunity of treachery. 
This letter you copied, and showed it about to numbers of 
people, with a menace of publication, if I dared to interrupt you. 
And yet you cannot pretend to justify yourself by saying, that 
it contains any promises which have not been abundantly 
fulfilled. You will not say that I courted you in your pros- 
perity, and forsook you in adversity ; you will not say that I 
have been ungrateful, or that I ever received any favors at 
your hands. I found you in the most hopeless state : an out- 
law ; plunged in the deepest distress ; overwhelmed with debt 
and disgrace ; forsaken by all your friends, and shunned by 
every thing that called itself a gentleman, at a time when very 
honest men, who could distinguish between you and your cause, 
and who feared no danger, yet feared the ridicule attending a 
probable defeat. Happily, we succeeded, and I leave you by 
repeated elections, the legal representative of Middlesex, an 
alderman of London, and about thirty thousand pounds richer 
than when I first knew you : myself by many degrees poorer 



TO JOHN WILKliS. 



'im 



than I was before ; and 1 pretend to have been a little instru- 
mental in all these changes of your situation. 

I make no other reflection on your behavior respecting my 
letter, than barely to say, that those who shall attempt to palliate 
or justify it, will want a justification themselves. Publish it, 
however, when you will. I am confident, as indeed I have 
likewise been assured by many to whom you have shown it, 
that there is nothing in the letter of which I need to be ashamed, 
unless there are any compliments to you ; of every thing of 
that kind your subsequent conduct has indeed made me most 

heartily ashamed. 

***** " From the time I left you at Paris, in 1767, I 
held no communication with you of any kind whatever ; nor 
did I upon your arrival in England, in 1768, even pay you a 
visit, till it was very evident you had lost your election in the 
city. Then indeed I went to you, because I knew I could be 
useful to you in Middlesex ; and 1 did then, and do still think, 
that there was no method by which I could do greater service 
to the public than by espousing your cause ; which the weak- 
ness and wickedness of our court had made to a certain degree, 
the cause of every Englishman. 

Besides some credible information which 1 had received 
since I first saw you concerning your character, and the danger 
which my second visit had shown me there was in your corres- 
pondence, a particular transaction had made me forbear any 
communication with you, though my Sentiments of your cause 
remained unaltered, JOHN HORNE'' 

Letter i\. 

To Mr. John Wilkes. 

" 8ir, — During the city election many worthy merchants 
having generously come forward to your assistance, and some 
of them being men of the most rigid morality, you thought it 
proper to adopt the language of a penitent : to the one you 
talked of ' Saul transformed into St. Paul ;' to another you 
were more poetical, and told him, that hitherto your life must 
be considered as only bearing the blossoms, nnd that the pulili^ 

27 



210 LETTERS FROMJOHN HORNE, 

might now expect from you the fruits:^ and you talked of the 
follies of your youth, as if you had not been at that time between 
forti/ and fifty, and as if folly was all that could be alleged 
against you. I believe you did not impose upon many ; the 
greater part despised the hypocrite, who before abhori'ed the 
rogue : but, however some might be deceived, your conduct 
did not suffer me even for a few days, to suppose you a change- 
ling. 

On Tuesday morning, March 22, 1768, I paid you the first 
visit in London. On Wednesday I inserted two advertisements 
levelled at the old members for Middlesex : for one of which 
the imprudent hastiness of Sir J. Gibbons made that gentleman 
afterwards publish my name. On Thursday, you set out with 
me to canvass the western part of the county. Returning in 

the evening to Brentford, I found there Mr. T n, whose 

name I did not then know : he had been appointed by your 
committee of the city to secure some houses at Brentford for 
the day of the election : he could get none, because he was 
totally unknown : he applied to me, and appointed me to meet 
him on Saturday evening, at the King's Arms, where the com- 
mittee would settle every thing with me relative to houses. 

On Friday, I procured two inns for the purpose ; and engaged 
myself to them to pay the expenses which should be incuired ; 
and this was necessary, because if you had lost your election, 
the people could easily foresee you would again have fled the 
countiy, and they would have lost their money. 

On Saturday, in the evening, I waited on the committee : ]Mr. 

T n was absent : I told them my business ; and desired 

only that the risk of the uncertain expenses at Brentford, on the 
day of election, might be understood to be equal between us, 
because I was not sufficient to bear the whole, and such a loss 
might undo me. They were perfect strangers to me ; the com- 
mittee was distracted with variety of business ; all was con- 
fusion ; and they treated me very cavalierly, as they would have 
done a sharper who was come to impose upon them by false 

pretences : the chairman, Mr. J. J , a gentleman of character 

and a man of business, and not having (as he has since informed 
me) been acquainted with the circumstances, and knowing that 



TO JOHN WILKES. 



in 



Mr. T 11, had been appointed to look after the houses, very 

properly, though abruptly, bade me quit the room; saying. 
* Since houses are procured, that is sufficient for us, and we 
have nothing to do with you or your engagements.' I quitted 
the room ; first telling them, that they were mistaken in sup- 
posing they had the houses safe, and therefore might leave me 
to bear the burthen ; that I was not quite so foolish as they 
seemed to imagine ; if they would not make it a joint risk, I was 
still able to save myself; for that I very well knew Sir William 
Beauchamp Proctor and Mr. Cooke, would be very glad to 
take the houses oft' my hands, and to acknowledge the obligation. 

You had hitherto sat silent ; but being alarmed at my last 
words, which I threw out to alarm them, and to make them 
join with me in the risk, you followed me, and led me together 

with Mr. , into another room ; you caught me by the 

hands, and supplicated me most earnestly not to be offended 
at such ' creatures' as your committee ; you swore I should run 
no hazard ; that you had more than money enough at your 
banker's, and would that moment give me a draft for fifteen 
hundred pounds. 

I replied, ' Sir, I was not at all offended before, but I am 
now : I see you think me a dupe ; because it is Saturday 
evening, and your election comes on Monday morning, you 
offer me a draft on your banker for fifteen hundred pounds, when 
I know you have not fifteen pence in the world. It is you that 
treat me ill, not they. I am not duped, sir ; and I desire I may 
at least have the honor of doing what I do with my eyes open. 
Go back and look after them ; give yourself no concern about 
me : I shall act in the same manner as if they had engaged with 
me. The die is cast : if I had not thought that all was at stake 
on the success of your election, 1 should not have come forward 
at all ; and having once begun it, nothing shall stop me.' 

The success of the election is known : the gentlemen after- 
wards excused themselves to me for a behavior for which their 
good intentions entirely justified them : and the committee paid 
the expenses. JOHN HORNE "" 



~i'2 1,KTTERS FitOM .TOHX MORNL 

LETTER V. 

To Mr. John Wilkes. 

•' Sir, — I iiave been asked by some very well meaning mew, 
1. Whether I did not in my first letter, say, that I would open 
no account with you on the score oi private character ? 2. And 
yet whether I have hitherto charged you with any thing but 
bad actions of a private nature ? 3. Whether your private 
character is worse now than it was when I went such lengths 
in your support ? 4. Whether I did not at that time know 
your private character ? 5. How then could I be a friend to 
such a man ? 6, If I was your friend only for the sake of the 
public cause, whether the same reason does not remain? 
7. Whether your cause is not still the same ? And, 8. Why I 
will suffer any private pique or quarrel between us to come 
before the public and injure that cause ? 

To which I answer, 

1. 2. I have hitherto confined myself, according to the plan 
laid down in my first letter, to show, from facts, what must have 
been the motives of my conduct and the nature of the inter- 
course between us. For that purpose it was necessary for me 
to mention such parts of your ill behavior as fell within 7ny own 
knowledge and related to myself ^i the time of its commencement; 
that it might from thence plainly appear to every one, that I 
could have no private attachment to Mr. Wilkes, though I was 
determined to the utmost of my poor abilities, to assist him and 
his cause as far as it loas a public cause,* and might tend to 
public benefit.f Had it been my intention to attack your private 



* The declaration of the society of supporters of the Bill of Rights, when 
it was first formed. 

I Junius iu Miscellaneous Letters, No. 52, addressed to the printer, Nov. 21, 
1768, observes, 

" Sir, — It will soon be decided by the highest authority whether the justice of 
our laws, and the liberty of our constitution, have been essentially violated in the 
person of Mr. Wilkes. As a public man his fate will be determined, nor is it safe 
or necessary at present to enter into the merits of his cause. We are interest-ed 
in this question no farther thwi as he is a part of a loell regulated society. If a member 
©fit be injured, the laws and constitution will defend him." — ^m. Edit. 



TO JOHN WILKJ3S. !213 

character, (which I understand to be on all sides given up,) I 
should have pursued a very different method : the transactions 
I have mentioned are mere peccadillos compared to the black 
catalogue v^^hich would then have appeared. 

3. Your private character is not worse now than it was when 
I went such lengths in your support ; except that by continuing 
your former bad practices in every respect, notwithstanding 
every reason public and private, to restrain you, all hopes of 
your amendment are vanished; for the ingenuity of man 
cannot find out an additional motive of restraint. 

4. 5. I knew enough of your private character at the time 
of the Middlesex election not to enter into any private connex- 
ion with you ; and to have no motives but what were public for 
the sacrifices I made and the hazards I ran. But I did not 
know your private character as I have known it since. When 
I first went abroad, early in the year 1763, 1 knew no more of 
you than what the papers told me, that you in conjunction with 
Churchill and Lloyd, were one of the authors of the North 
Briton. What I afterwards heard against you on my return, in 
1764, 1 imputed, for the greater part, to the rage of party and 
the malice of your enemies : I supposed you liberal in specula- 
tion, and not a very rigid moralist in action : I have not to this 
moment read the Essay on Woman ; and whatever it may 
contain, I should have felt more indignation against those who 
bribed the printer to betray you, than against you who were 
betrayed ; because it was a mean villany, almost equal to the 
treacherous publication of a private, friendly, confidential letter; 
but a villany of which you can now complain no more. 

Wilkes, with the education of a gentleman, has exceeded in 
meanness and want of sentiment his sei*vant Curry.* In the 
year 1767, 1 first kneiv some part of your private character, and 



* As the ministers were determined to ruin Mr. Wilkes, and were not very 
scrupulous as to the means, a journeyman printer, of the name of Curry, was 
seduced, by promises, to purloin a proof-sheet of" An Essay on Woman," written 
by him, containing some manuscript corrections in the hand writing of llie 
author. Only twelve copies of this work were printed, at a private preps', but 
never published. 



214 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE 

no sooner knew than avoided you. Since that time, in the 
progress of my excessive industry to extricate you from yom* 
difficulties, I have'to my astonishment, found to be true, not only 
all that has been alleged against you, but much more. How- 
ever, were it possible to add to the measure of your private 
turpitude, it would not prevent me from acting over again in the 
same manner I have done ; and was there an election for 
Middlesex to-morrow, (the right of the electors being left un- 
vindicated, or any other point of public concern, the benefit 
which you might receive from my labor or my sufferings should 
not make me in the least relax the one or decline the other. 

6. 7. I was your friend only for the sake of the public cause: 
that reason does in certain matters remain ; as far as it remains, 
so far I am still your friend ; and therefore I said in my first 
letter, ' the public should know how far they ought, and how 
far they ought not, to support you.' 

To bring to punishment the great delinquents who have 
corrupted the parliament and the seats of justice ; who have 
encouraged, pardoned, and rewarded murder: to heal the 
breaches made in the constitution, and by salutary provisions, 
to prevent them for the future : to replace, once more, not the 
administration and execution, for which they are very unfit, but 
the checks of government really in the hands of the governed. 

For these purposes, if it were possible to suppose that the 
great enemy of mankind could be rendered instrumental to 
their happiness, so far the devil himself should be supported by 
the people. For a human instrument they should go further ; 
he should not only be supported, but thanked and rewarded, for 
the good which perhaps he did not intend, as an encouragement 
to others to follow his example. But if the foul fiend having 
gained their support, should endeavor to delude the weaker 
part, and entice them to an idolatrous worship of himself, by 
persuading them that what he suggested was their voice, and 
their voice the voice of God : if he should attempt to obstruct 
every thing that leads to their security and happiness, and to 
promote every wickedness that tends only to his own emolu- 
ment : if when — the cause — the cause — reverberates on their 
car?, he should divert them from the oriffinal sound, and direct 



XO JOHN WILKES. 



215 



ihem towards the opposite unfaithful echo : if confusion should 
be all his aim, and mischief his sole enjoyment, would not he 
act the part of a faithful monitor to the people, who should save 
them from their snares, by reminding them of the true object 
of their constitutional worship, expressed in these words oiholy 
writ, (for to me it is so,) Rex, lex loquens ; lex, rex mutus* 
This is — tJw cause — the cause. — To make this union indissoluble 
is the only cause I acknowledge. As far as the support of Mr. 
Wilkes tends to this point, I am as warm as the warmest ; but 
all the lines of your projects are drawn towards a diiferent 
centre — yourself ; and if with a good intention, I have been 
diligent to gain you powers, which may be perverted to mischief, 
I am bound to be doubly dihgent to prevent their being so 
employed. 

8. The diligence I have used for two years past, and the 
success 1 have had in defeating all your shameful schemes, is 
the true cause of the dissention between us. I have never had 
any private pique or quarrel with you. It was your policy, in 
paragraphs and anonymous letters, to pretend it ; but you can- 
not mention any private cause of pique or quarrel. 

To prevent the mischief of a division to a popular opposition, 
those who saw both your bad intentions and your actions, were 
silent ; and, whilst they defeated all your projects, they were 
cautious to conceal your defects. They studied so much the 
more to satisfy your voracious prodigality, and thought, as I 
should have done if a minister, that, if feeding it would keep 
you from mischief, a few thousands would be well employed by 
the public for that purpose. But I can never, merely for the 
sake of strengthening opposition, join in those actions which 
would prevent all the good effects to be hoped for from opposi- 
tion, and for the sake of which alone any opposition to govern- 
ment can be justifiable. 

Would to God, the time were come, which I am afraid is very 
distant, beyond the period of my life, when an honest man 
could not be in opposition ! I declare I should rejoice to find 
the patronage of a minister in the smallest degree my honor 
and interest. I never have pretended to any more than to 



The king enforcing the law ; the law subjecting the king. — dm. /•,'</. 



31tJ liETTERS FKOM JOHN IIORNE 

prefer the former to the latter. But it is not upon me alone 
that you have poured forth your abuse, but upon every man of 
honor, vi^ho has deserved well of the public ; and if you were 
permitted to proceed, without interruption, there would shortly 
not be found one honest man who would not shudder to deserve 
well of the people. 

The true reason of our dissention being made public, is, that 
you could not get on a step without it ; and you trust that the 
popularity of your name, and your diligence in paragraphing 
the papers, will outweigh with the people the most essential 
services of others ; and that you shall get rid of all control, by 
taking away from those who mean well the confidence of the 
people. If you can once get them affronted by the public, 
whom they have faithfully served, you flatter yourself that 
disgust will make them retire from a scene where such a man 
as you are, covered with infamy like yours, has the disposal ot 
honor and disgrace, and the characters of honest men at his 
mercy. 

I mean to prove what I have said by facts ; and though it 
does not come in the regular order of time, which I meant to 
observe, nor with that strength, with which a number of pre- 
ceding transactions made it affect my mind, I will now mention 
one which, with two or three others, made you despair of using 
me in your plans, and made you hasten the rupture. 

Some time in last July, when I was on a visit to Mr. alder- 
man Oliver, at Putney, you came there and persuaded me to 
go with you to j^our house at Fulham, where I had never before 
been, that we might the next morning go together by water to 
London. In the boat, you began with me a conversation about 
the city, as exactly as I can recollect, to the following effect : 

W. ' 1 think I ought to consider something about providing 
for my friends, and being prepared with candidates for the 
city offices. Give me your opinion : who do you think should 
be town-clerk V 

H. ' Why, is sir James Hodges dead V 

W. ' No ; but he is not veiy young, nor in very good health ; 
and one ought to be prepared against accidents. There should 
always be a candidate fixed upon ready.' 

H. ' Since you have asked my opinion about it. I will give 



TO JOHN WILKES. 217 

it you very freely : I think directly the contrary. Consider 
your situation ; your influence is not personal, but depends 
entirely upon the propriety of your measures. Though you 
may consider of the thing in your mind, you should never fix 
upon a candidate till the very time of election, nor talk about it 
to any one. The man that might be most proper this year may 
be very improper the next. It is your business, when the time 
comes, to consider who is the most fit for the office, and has 
the best claim to the favor of the citizens ; and if those circum- 
stances are nearly equal in different candidates, then to adopt 
him who is most likely to succeed : by which means the party 
you espouse will generally be victorious ; and you will have 
the credit of having carried many a candidate by your interest, 
when indeed he will be carried by the merits of his own pre- 
tensions : and should you at any time miscarry, your defeat will 
do you no harm ; for every one will acknowledge that your 
man ought to have succeeded ; and, by seeing you always 
espouse the most worthy, the public will in time have a strong 
inducement to support your candidates, and will reasonably 
conclude that he is probably the most worthy whom you 
espouse : whereas, by following a different course, though you 
may succeed once or twice, your very successes will disgrace 
and insure your future defeat.' 

W. ' All this may do very well in theory, but Reynolds has 
done so much, and is every day doing so much for me, that I 
think he ought to be fixed upon as town-clerk.' 

H. ' In my opinion you have fixed upon the last man in the 
city that should be thought of for that office ; and I may speak 
it the more freely, because Reynolds has experienced that I do 
not want an inclination to serve him. When he sent Mr. 

Tr n to ask me to desire Mr. Sawbridge to appoint him his 

under-sheriif, he knows that there was not a minute between 

Tr n's application to me and Mr. Sawbridge's granting my 

request :* he knows, too, the steps I have since taken to serve 



* The friendship subsisting between Mr. Homo and Mr. Sawbridge \vill be a 
subject of future remark. 

28 



'21S LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNll 

him in that hne. There is nothing improper in his being under- 
sheriff, because that is a private favor granted by the sheriff, 
who serves the office at a very great expense. But the lucra- 
tive city offices are very different things : they ought always to 
be disposed of to the old citizens of long standing, not those 
who make themselves free for the purpose ; to men of respect- 
able characters, who can plead services to the city ; or at least 
to those who, with equal merit, have not perhaps been so suc- 
cessful as their neighbors, and are not so easy in their fortunes 
as their fellow-citizens think they deserve. Reynolds has not 
the least claim : he is a freeman only of yesterday ; and you 
will certainly forfeit the esteem and support of the citizens, and 
narrow yourself to a very small circle indeed, if they see you 
endeavoring to confine all the emoluments of the city to your 
attorneys, agents, and particular adherents, to the exclusion of 
those who have long borne the burden of the city, and whose 
right those offices are. You ought, on the contrary, on these 
occasions, to assist worth and merit wherever you find it, 
whether amongst your own party or out of it, or even amongst 
your adversaries ; and, by so doing, your enemies will be less 
jealous of your power and less bitter, and the number of your 
friends will increase as the approbation of your conduct 
increases.' 

Mr. Wilkes seemed much chagrined, and did not at all relish 
my arguments, but turned the conversation to other subjects. 
About ten days afterwards, Mr. Reynolds came to me, and told 
me he desired my advice and assistance : that Mr. Wilkes had 
been talking to him about being town-clerk. — I repeated to Mr. 
Reynolds the arguments I had used to Mr. Wilkes, with many 
others particularly affecting Mr. Reynolds ; and Mr. Reynolds 
told me he was convinced by what I had said, and should think 
no more of it. 

On the first of August, I went to Guilford, on account of the 
trial on my cause with Mr. Onslow. After the trial, about 
twenty of us dined together ; and after dinner Mr. Heaton 
Wilkes took me out into another room, and solicited my influ- 
ence in his behalf for the chamberlainship. Relative to this 



TO JOHN WlliKES. 219 

subject, I fully expressed my dissatisfaction by means of a 
written communication. 

Upon this business I had afterwards some very unpleasant 
conversation with Mr. Heaton Wilkes, and not much better 
with Mr. John Wilkes, who denied that he had ever approved 
the measure ; but insisted upon it, that his brother had as good 
a right to be a candidate as any other person. Mr. Heaton 
Wilkes has continued his canvass, which he began many months 
before he was a freeman, down to this time, and was made 
free of the city of London on the 27th of last September. 

J. ITORNE. • 

LETTER Vir. 

To Mr. John Wilkes. 

" Mr. Cot€s and Mr. Reynolds seem to declare upon their 
honor with as little scruple as Jews swear on the New Testa- 
ment. Alas ! the policies will enrich the one no more than the 
town-clerkship the other. And Mr. Wilkes, -whose ' heart is at 
present too full to say one ivord except his feelings of gratitude^ 
will some time hence say to them, as he does now to Mr. Wild- 
man — ' Deliver in your account on oath : I \m\\ follow you into 
Westminster Hall.' — Mr. Wildman, sir, \\\\\find you there." 

" You are very discreet when you refuse to ' accept any place 
in the city.' The disposal of all would be much more lucrative 
to you than the possession of one ; and if, instead of a share, 
your candidates were all able, like Mr. Reynolds, to advance 
the price of the office, your gain would be less precarious. 

Will you content yourself, as you have hitherto done, to deny 
all, and leave it on your own bare authority ? I believe you will ; 
for I know that you cannot defend yourself a moment, without 
being driven to an impudent, manifest contradiction of the most 
consistent circumstances ; the best attested truths ; the most 
notorious facts ; and the clear testimony of some of the most 
respectable public men in the world ; I mean Mr. Oliver, Mr. 
Townsend, Mr. Sawbridge, Mr. Glynn, sir Robert Bernard, 
Mr. Bellas, Mr. Lovell, &c. &c. These, with a great number 
of other gentlemen of considerable character in private stations, 



yi20. 1,ETTERS FROM JOHN HOBNE 

liave been witnesses to the whole of my conduct ; to them I 
shall be forced frequently to appeal, and, with the most perfect 
confidence I trust my character to their affirmations : against 
the declarations, upon honor, of such men as Mr. Reynolds and 
Mr. Humphry Cotes. JOHN HORNE." 

LETTER Vm. 

To Mr. John Wilkes. 

***** « Ijj your brother's address to the livery, I can 
find but two articles of recommendation on which to ground 
his pretensions : 

1. His near relationship to John Wilkes, esquire, as he terms 
his brother ; and 

2. That the chamberlainship will enable him to assist the said 
John Wilkes, esquire, more liberally. 

This near relation to John Wilkes, esquire, (who is now 
desirous to assist him more liberally,) was pressed very ear- 
nestly by Mr. T. B , a stranger to them both, to join with 

him in bailing a debt for the esquire, when he was arrested 
during the city election ; but not having then a chamberlainship 
in view, he obstinately refused, and the very bailiflf, who 
arrested his brother, joined, through indignation, with Mr. T. 
B , in bail for this near relation. 

If ' Mr. Reynolds's honor will, (as you say,) remain unspotted 
till the Jews are sworn (by direction of court I suppose you 
mean) on the New Testament,' his testimony must then be 
admitted by you to prove that your near relation, being himself 
out of the scrape, advised John Wilkes, esquire, to run away 
from his bail. Par nohile fratrum !* 

Upon the whole, I allow there could be no objection of incon- 
sistency in their choice, if the livery should choose to return you 
both as sheriffs together, or to the court of aldermen for the 
oflice of lord-mayor; but unfortunately for your scheme in 



* This term is applied by Junius to the two Townshends. See p. 143 this 
Tolame'. 



TO JOIO WILKES. iJ'21. 

question, the election for the chamherlainship is not used to 
bring forth twins. JOHN HORNE." 

LETTER IX. 

To Mr. Wilkes. 

***** « "M-en of reflection, integrity, and discernment, 
are disgusted at the grossness of your abuse, and perceive guilt 
to be the cause of your shuffling evasions : not that I believe 
you would be sorry at their removal from you, if it were not 
that you are sensible — ^ the fleece accompanies the ^ocA:.' The 
natural consequence of your behavior is, that you are at this 
moment reduced to a little faction of obout forty very incon- 
siderable names ; many of them honest, mistaken, or unin- 
formed simpletons ; some of them jovial fellows, who look no 
further than the laugh and merriment of the table, and some 
of them disappointed or interested knaves. To each of these, 
in his turn, you confidentially declare how much you despise the 
rest ; and should every man to whom you have made such a 
declaration, quit your acquaintance, you would not have one 
fool left whom you could flatter with the abuse of another ; 
and if your present adherents will only compare notes together, 
they will easily learn your opinion of them all. 

But to proceed — Having now established Mr. Heaton Wilkes 
the declared, advertising candidate for the chamherlainship of 
the city of London ; and secured to him your public-spirited 
vote, though you disapprove his attempt ; I will, in my next, 
begin to show your conduct to the public society at the London 
Tavern. ' JOHN HORNE." 

LETTER X. 

To Mr. John Wilkes. 

* * * * * " Never, surely, was a great public cause so 
overlaid with the wickedness and folly of an individual as the 
present ! Every day brought fresh difficulties and disgrace on 
Mr. Wilkes ; and yet he was the only person who, all the while, 
felt no distress, denied himself no expense, was neither sensible 



r222 LKTTERS PROM JOHN HORAE 

or apprehensive of any disgrace. The just abhorrence of Mr. 
Wilkes, as a private man, kept many good men at a distance from 
the cause of the people, which v^^as unhappily blended with his 
personal persecution : the friends of that cause were therefore 
anxious to cover, if possible, or to lessen the infamy, of which 
he was careless. The breach of trust committed by him 
towards the Foundling Hospital began to make a noise ; being 
found, upon inquiry, to be too true, it demanded their earliest 
attention. Two gentlemen immediately advanced three hun- 
dred pounds to the hospital, and engaged themselves to pay the 
remainder. The whole sum due from Mr. Wilkes to the Found- 
ling Hospital amounted to 990/. \s. 3d. 

Whilst matters were in this situation, and every day growing 
worse, you were unjustly expelled from the house of commons ; 
and that expulsion was the cause of the society at the London 
Tavern. 

Many gentlemen, unconnected with each other, had long 
been wishing for some association to be set on foot for public 
purposes, and it had been much talked of as a measure capable 
of producing great benefit to the pubhc : the present seemed a 
proper moment for it, and it was proposed by Mr. Townsend 
instantly to begin." 

" In this situation the establishment of a society was pro- 
posed : the plan was formed and executed in great haste : Mr. 
Sawbridge and Mr. Townisend labored at one end of the town, 
whilst some persons were employed at the other, to give a gene- 
ral notice of the design, and to collect as many respectable 
persons as possible, whose sentiments and wishes were known 
to be public. On the 20th of February, 1769, only three days 
after the vote of incapacitation, the first meeting of the society 
was held at the London Tavern : a subscription was imme- 
diately made by the gentlemen present, which amounted to 
3023/. — A second meeting was held jive days afterwards, on the 
25th of the same Inonth, when they assumed the name of ' Sup- 
porters of the Bill of Rights.' A very worthy member of the 
house of commons proposed that name as most expressive of 
the public intentions of the society, which disdained the notion 
of being merely a club for Mr. Wilkes, of whom the greater 



TO JOHN WILKES. '2'2li 

part had a very bad opinion. Still further to avoid any such 
imputation, it was at this second meeting resolved, that Mr. 
Wilkes's health should never be given in that society as a public 
toast ; and tliis resolution has been uniformly observed : still 
further to avoid misapprehension, the society desired me to 
draw up an advertisement which should declare their purposes 
to the public. 

At the third meeting of the society, March 7, (only three 
weeks after the first,) three hundred pounds were given to Mr. 
Wilkes, and a committee was appointed with the treasurers to 
inquire into the several demands upon Mr. Wilkes. 

At the ninth meeting of the society, June 6, (only fifteen 
weeks from its first establishment,) it appeared that 4553/. had 
been expended in the composition of debts, &c. for Mr. Wilkes ; 
and a further sum of 2500/. was ordered to be issued by the 
treasurers for the further discharge of Mr. Wilkes's debts 
during the summer. After which, and a vote of 300/. more to 
Mr. Wilkes, the society adjourned to the 10th of October fol- 
lowing. 

Any man who reads this account, will naturally suppose, that 
Mr. Wilkes must have felt and expressed the warmest gratitude 
to a society Hke this, which, in so short a time had performed 
such wonders in his favor. Whoever shall suppose so, will be 
much mistaken: he abhorred the society and its members. 
The declarations of the most respectable part, disclaiming a 
personal attachment to Mr. Wilkes, and professing only a regard 
to the public, disgusted him extremely ; the resolution that his 
health should never be given as a public toast in that society, 
and the advertisement of supporting him and his cause only as 
far as it was a public cause, were never forgiven. Besides, he 
entertained a false notion that, had not this society been instituted, 
he should himself have received all the ready money subscribed 
by the society into his own hands ; what they applied to the 
discharge of his debts, he considered as a kind of robbery ; 
and hated them for their care of liim, as profligate young heirs 
do the guardians who endeavor to save them from destruction." 

" The society continued to make great progress in the affairs 
of Mr. Wilkes ; though, it must be confessed, with very little 
assistance from the public at large, out of the society. They 



!2'24 LETTERS PKOM JOHN HORNE 

had paid all his election expenses, and one of his fines of 500/. 
they had compounded a very considerable portion of his debts ; 
when, on the 24th of October, they voted him 300Z. more, 
making in the w^hole lOOOZ. for his pocket. 

A few weeks after this vote, Mr. Wilkes obtained a verdict 
against lord Hahfax, with 4000Z. damages : I waited on Mr. 
Wilkes, and endeavored to persuade him that he was bound in 
lionor, in honesty, and policy, to send these 4000/. to the Lon- 
don Tavern, in aid towards the payment of his debts ; I repre- 
sented to him the poverty of our bank, which had, indeed, 
advanced too far, and was in debt ; I endeavored to make him, 
sensible that 4000/. at that time, would go further in compound- 
ing his debts, than 10,000/. would some time afterwards ; I 
showed him the reputation he would gain, by this act of com- 
mon honesty and policy, and that he would encourage the public 
to subscribe towards him, and bind the gentlemen of the 
society never to quit him till they had at least returned liim his 
4000/., though it was employed in the discharge of his own 
debts. I laboured in vain: ready cash made Mr. Wilkes 
deaf to my arguments. He would not send a penny to the 
society for the discharge of his own debts, though it was not 
many weeks since the society had, in one year, voted him the 
last part of a thousand pounds for his support. 

Whilst these things were in agitation, the society, on the 8th 
of February, 1770, received a letter from the commons house 
of assembly of South Carolina, with a subscription of 1000/. 

In this situation were the affairs of the society, when you 
came out of the King's Bench, on the 17th of April, 1770, only 
fourteen months since its first establishment. Your election 
expenses of 2973/. were paid ; — your two fines of 1000/. were 
discharged ; — 12,000/. of your debts were compounded ; — you 
had a thousand pounds from the society, besides all the private 
presents you received ; — you reserved to yourself ihefour thou- 
sand pounds received from lord Halifax ; — and there remained 
only 6,821/. V^s. to be compounded of your debts. 

In my next, I will proceed to show the return you made to 
the society and the public for these obligations ; from which 
may easily be collected your gratitude to the one, and your 
regard for the other. JOHN HORNK" 



TO JOHN WILKES. "^^^ 

LETTER X. 

To Mr. John Wilkes. 

" On tlie 17th of April, 1770, Mr. Wilkes was released from 
ihe RTng's Bench piison ; and at the next meeting of the society, 
April 24, he was proposed to be ballotted for as a member ; 
and, at the following meeting. May 8, was unanimously chosen. 
In my last, I showed what was the situation of the society's 
accounts at this time, and stated both what had been done, and 
what remained to do, viz : 

Debts of Mr. Wilkes, discharged above £ 12,000 
To Mr. Wilkes, for his support - - 1,000 

To his election expenses - - - 2,973 

To his two fines . . . . 1,000 

And by all the Usts of claims on Mr. Wilkes he remained 
indebted 6,821Z. 13^. 

It is proper 1 should now mention what was Mr. Wilkes's 
visible situation. He had an estate of 700/. a year, out of 
which 200Z. a year was payable to Mrs. Wilkes, and an annuity 
of 150/. was due to Mr. Reynolds, he having purchased the 
same for 1000/. ; so that there remained to Mr. Wilkes a nomi- 
nal 350/. a year. Besides tliis income, Mr. Wilkes had 2000/. 
in ready money ; the other 2000/. of the sum recovered from 
lord Halifax, were said to be paid to Mr. Reynolds, i. e. 1200/. 
for Mr. Reynolds's law charges, &c., and 800/. to dischai'ge 
some debts contracted by another breach of trust towards the 
Buckinghamsliire militia, when Mr. Wilkes was their colonel." 
" On quitting the King's Bench prison he took a house on a 
lease at fifty pounds a year, that he might layout some hundreds 
on its repairs : at the same time he took a country house at 
sixty guineas for the season ; and, to complete his plan of eco- 
nomy, he sent his daughter to Paris, to see the Dauphin's rved- 
ding, whilst himself was all the summer making the tour of the 
vxitering places. That his generous supporters might not be 
too much ridiculed, he kept no more than six domestics ; and 
that his politeness and gratitude to his country might keep pace 
with his economy, onlv three of them were French. 

29 



226 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE 

Such were the situations of Mr. Wilkes and of the society 
when he was released from prison. 

Those who had hitherto laboured so indefatigably did not 
remit their diligence. In order to keep the promises of the 
society, and do good to the public, it was necessary that they 
should at length come to some conclusion of Mr. Wilkes's pri- 
vate aftairs. They could easily see that, if they did not make 
haste, Mr. Wilkes would incur fresh debts faster than they could 
discharge the old : it was proper he should know what he had 
. to expect from the society ; and they could not begin to pro- 
cure for him a reasonable annuity till they had first cleared his 
incumbrances. It was the wish of all those with whom I ever 
conversed, to set liim free, and afterwards to procure for him a 
clear annuity of 600?. Having done so, to cease subscriptions 
for the further support of Mr. Wilkes, unless some new public 
reason should make it justifiable, and to apply the whole collected 
strength of the public to the most important public measures 
that should need pecuniEiry assistance. Whatever difficulties 
the future private extravagance of Mr. Wilkes might bring 
upon him, the society did not consider as any object of their 
concern. The public spirit of the nation v^rould be justified by 
what they had done for him ; and sufficient encouragement 
would thereby be given to all other private men to do their 
duty, and a sufficient lesson to kings and ministers to abstain 
from violence and injustice. These pm-poses I did not doubt 
to see fulfilled before the month of March, 1771. And I was 
foolish enough to suppose, that Mr. Wilkes would not dare to 
appear discontented, if (after three whole years of such suc- 
cessful labor applied to his private affiiirs, himself freed from 
his debts, and with clear six hundred pounds a year, the society 
still supporting the expense of all public measures) we employ- 
ed our strength at last on other important objects of public 
advantage. With these aims, and a corresponding conduct, 
without ever having received the slightest favor from any party 
or great man in administration or opposition, I could not foresee 
that, by all my labor, hazard, and expense, I should gain the 
contradictoiy imputation of being, at the same time, the hireling 



TO JOHN WILKES. 



221 



of the one, and the tool of the other : and that Mr. Wilkes, the 
only private gainer in the struggle should, of all men in the 
world, be the person to bring the charge against me. Mr. 
Wilkes, in perfect idleness and secuiity, four times elected 
member for Middlesex, and twice alderman of London, a gainer 
of thirty thousand pounds, is the person to impute to me an 
interested design ! to me, who have frequently risked the whole, 
and actually spent a great part of my little fortune in the con- 
test, often exposed to a prison, and sometimes to death ! an 
interested design ! Sumo superbiam. I know there is not one 
even of his phalanx that believes it. 

After the summer recess, the society was to meet again Nov. 
27, 1770. 

On Monday, October 22, 1770, 1 received a note from Mr. 
Wilkes, to inform me that he would call the next day to talk 
with me on some business of consequence. I was at that 
moment going into the country for a week, the post-chaise was 
at the door, and my company waiting : I desired a gentleman 
who was in my room to answer the note, and to tell him I 
would visit him as soon as I returned. According to my pro- 
mise, on Sunday, October 28, 1 went to Mr. Wilkes, at Fulham. 
Our conversation turned chiefly on three things : — His brother's 
pretensions to the chamberlainship ; his expectations from the 
London Tavern ; and his intended proceedings at Westminster 
on the Wednesday following. It was my misfortune to be of 
a different opinion from Mr. Wilkes on all three : indeed we 
seldom did concur in any measure, except in those which 
tended to his private advantage ; as far as I thought it just and 
honorable to pursue his private interest, I met with his hearty 
concurrence ; for he found my endeavors effectual, and he 
reaped the instant benefit. In all public measures our opinions 
have been uniformly as different as our aims. However, when 
I look back on what is past, I find the voice of the people 
(which Mr. Wilkes called the voice of God) in my favor ; and. 
if the public are not to be condemned, Mr. Wilkes cannot have 
been very right, nor I very wrong ; for, however new and 
extraordinary it may seem to those who are unacquainted with 
the particulars of what has passed, it is nevertheless most cer- 



928 LETTERS FROM JOH\ IIORNE 

tain, that Mr, Wilkes has strenuously opposed almost every 
measure which the public has adopted. But, as I mean here- 
after to explain the whole of his conduct in those matters, I 
shall confine myself at present to what relates to the society at 
the London Tavern. Mr. Wilkes desired ready moneij. I 
thought it a shameful request : I repeated to him the situation 
of the society which was in arrears ; and showed him that, in 
order to discharge his remaining debts, we must borrow from 
some of the members on the credit of the society. His debts 
being once discharged, I told him, I would venture to answer 
for it, that he would have a cleai* annuity of 600/. ; that if it 
amounted to 1000/. I should be better pleased, but would not 
press the thing beyond 600/. ; that this annuity, with what he 
had and what his relations could do for him, ought to content 
him ; but, whether he was contented or not, that I should trouble 
myself on that score no further. That we had already dwelt 
too long and exhausted ourselves too much on his private affairs, 
and should deservedly meet with the scorn and derision of 
the public, if we did not proceed to matters of greater public 
importance. Mr. Wilkes still pressed for ready money, and 
said it would be doing him more kindness to give him the 
mone\'^, and trust for the remainder of his debts to the chapter 
of accidents. He urged to me his old argument, which he has 
often repeated to many people, that ' those who do pay make 
amends for those who do not; and that tradesmen always 
charge accordingly.' I replied, that the same pretence would 
equally justify him for robbing them on the highway, or burn- 
ing their houses down ; because no doubt their gain in trade, if 
they are not undone, must supply all their losses. As I conti- 
nued obstinate, Mr. Wilkes grew angry : he said, if he was to 
be treated so, it was plain the society had only made a decoy- 
duck of his name, and that he was used only as an instrument. 
I grew warm in my turn, I reproached him for his unreasona- 
bleness, selfislmess, and ingratitude ; I asked him what merit he 
pretended to with the public, and what claim he had to their 
support, but as an instrument of public good ; and I assured 
him I would take care he should not be able to cast that reproach 
on the society ; for that as soon as we had completed the pro- 



TO JOHN WILKES. 229 

vision for him I had mentioned, I would malvC a motion to give 
him all the money that should remain over in the banker's hand ; 
and to advertise that, for the future, no more subscriptions 
would be received by the society, unless some great public 
occasion should arise, which exceeded the abilities of that 
society alone to support. 

What passed between us concerning the chamberlainship and 
the Westminster instructions, did not tend to restore his good 
humour towards me. He found it in vain to use any further 
endeavors to bend me to his purposes ; and, from that day for- 
wards, has employed every means, by paragraphs and other- 
wise, to destroy the effect of any opposition I might make to 
his scandalous attempts. 

On the 27th of November, the society met ; and a committee 
of accounts was appointed for the 7th of December following. 
At the next meeting of the society, December 11, a report was 
made from the committee, ' That there appeared to be 743Z. 
18s. bd., still undischarged of the hst of Mr. Wilkes's debts 
admitted by the society on the 17th of April, 1770.' 

On the 22d of January, 1771, the society met again, accord- 
ing to their last adjournment. Great industry had been used 
by Mr. Wilkes to pack a majority, many meetings had been 
held, and dinners given at the prime minister's (Mr. Reynolds) 
for tlie purpose. Sixteen members, who had never paid the 
least attention to any part of the transactions, and had scarcely 
ever attended before, came merely to vote as Mr. Wilkes should 
direct : on the other hand, many gentlemen who disliked the 
attempts on the society, now stayed away, disgusted at alterca- 
tion and the indecent behavior of some of Mr. Wilkes's agents ; 
it is not wonderful, for in all large companies it is found that 
public wishes are not so sharp a spur as private interest. The 
same conduct which is pursued by the minister in packing a 
majority in another assembly naturally produced the same mea- 
sures at this meeting. Like the house of commons, they voted 
their king money without an account, and an approbation of his 
conduct without an inquiry. It was by a small majority of a 
meeting, which consisted of forty-seven. 

* Resolved, 1. That after the debts due hj this society arc dis- 



230 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE. 

charged, there be paid out of the first unappUed monies which 
shall come into the hands of the treasurers of this society the 
sum of 600/. to pay Mr. L. Macleane in full satisfaction for all 
debts due from John Wilkes, esq. to the said L. Macleane. 

' 2. Resolved, That a further subscription be now opened for 
the purpose of discharging all the outstanding debts of John 
Wilkes, esq., which appear to have been bona fide due at the 
time of the formation of this society. 

' 3. Resolved, That the public conduct of John AVilkes, esq., 
since his enlargement from the King's Bench prison hath been 
such as merits the approbation of this society. 

' 4. Resolved, That the public be informed that there are 
some old debts of John Wilkes, esq., which still remain unpaid, 
and that their further contributions are necessary to discharge 
them.' 

After this meeting, many of the most respectable members 
talked of quitting the society, which they thought much better 
than staying there to wrangle, or to be made a mere club for 
Mr. Wilkes to impose upon the public by general professions, 
and to receive subscriptions solely for the support of his extra- 
vagance. It w^ould not have been at all difficult to have per- 
suaded a large majority to attend for once, and re-establish the 
public principles upon which the society first began ; but once, 
or many times, would not have sufficed. Mr. Wilkes is too 
artful and industrious in mischief, and the tools he works with 
too stupid and obedient not to have made a perpetual attendance 
necessary. Such an attendance few men can, and still fewer 
will give, when they have no private purpose to answer ; espe- 
cially where they are to be liable to the ignorance and brutality 
of such men as Mr. Reynolds, whilst Mr. Wilkes is dexterous 
enough to avail himself of the former quality in his agents, to 
turn the latter upon his opponents. Besides, it is always much 
easier to produce confusion than to preserv^e order ; and if Mr. 
Wilkes could every now and then procure a majority to adopt 
and publish some imprudent measure, the society would be 
sure to lose their character, and with it their importance; and 
we knew, for he had declared long before, that he was deter- 
mined to destroy it. Still we were willing to tiy every mea- 



TO JOHN WILKES. '231 

sure to preserve the society, whose dissolution, as to every 
public purpose, we foresaw with infinite regret. 

At the next meeting, therefore, of the society, on February 
12, 1771, one of the members* rose and desired to be indulged 
with some conversation, though he was not going to make a 
motion : he desired only to explain his own sentiments and 
understand theirs : he repeated his own public motives, and 
showed they were originally the declared motives of the 
society : much dispute, he said had, however, been lately held, 
whether these were originally the avowed intentions of the 
society, or whether it had been instituted merely for the support 
and emolument of Mr. Wilkes, to the exclusion of all other public 
measures ; he therefore, for his part, waived entirely that dis- 
pute : he desired only to know what were the sentiments the 
society would declare now, and whether they would determine 
to act for the future as a public society, giving support and effec- 
tual assistance to every thing which was importantly useful to 
the rights of the nation and mankind, or confine themselves 
singly to Mr. Wilkes ? He said he did not mean to make a 
motion of this, or put it to the vote : if there were five or even 
three members of that society present, who would acknowledge 
themselves to be confined merely to the raising of money for 
Mr. Wilkes, he would quit the society at once without troubling 
them with any reasoning on the subject. — Several other gentle- 
men declared the same sentiments. — This conversation was 
entirely unforeseen ; Mr. Wilkes himself was not present ; his 
leading partisans were without instructions on the subject ; the 
professions were only in general of pubHc motives ; ^nA general 
professions are safely made by the most interested men, who 
never mean to come to particulars. Much conversation how- 
ever passed of a different tendency, yet no one member would 
acknowledge di private principle of action. 

The member who spoke first then rose again, and said, since 
he found they were all agreed in ihevc general motives, he would 
now make a particular motion in consequence ; and he moved 



^Ir. Hoinf 



"232 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE 

— ' That an immediate subscription (in order to raise five hun- 
dred pounds) be opened for Mr. Bingley, for having refused to 
answer interrogatories, and to submit to the illegal mode of 
attachment.' He represented to them that it was now near 
three years since Mr. Bingley was fii'st sent to prison ; that he 
had suffered almost as much imprisonment as Mr. Wilkes, and 
had hitherto received no reward for resisting attachment and 
interrogatories, which were much more dangerous and dreadful 
than general warrants ; that besides, he was in a station where 
sentiment and public priiiciple were not so much to be expected 
as in Mr. Wilkes's, and therefore required the greater encou- 
ragement. He said, he did not desire any gentleman present 
to subscribe to this ; that he knew the money would be raised ; 
the only question for them to consider was, whether the society 
would have the honor of the gift, or whether it should be given 
out of the society, by those gentlemen who had already deter- 
termined on the measure and were desirous to contribute ? 

This motion seemed too reasonable to admit of debate, and 
yet it met with great opposition from Mr. Wilkes's friends. It 
was, however, carried by a majority ; and near half the 
money was instantly subscribed. 

At the next meeting of the society, February 26, 1771, Mr. 
Wilkes attended. He had collected his forces, and was shame- 
less enough to cause them to come to the following resolution : 

' That the first object of this society, in order to promote the 
public purposes of its institution, was to support John Wilkes, 
esq. against ministerial oppression, by discharging his debts and 
rendering him independent. That this society having resolved 
that the public conduct of John Wilkes, esq. has continued such 
as merited their approbation ; and not having as yet fully 
accomplished their declared purpose of discharging his debts, 
no new subscriptions shall for the future be opened in this society, 
for any other purpose whatsoever, until all the debts of John 
Wilkes, esq. which shall appear to have been bona fide due at 
the time of the formation of this society, and have already been 
given in to any committee or general meeting thereof, shall be 
fully discharged or compromised.' 

Before this resolution was passed, every possible method wa<? 



TO JOHN WILKES. 



233 



tried for an accommodation : it was proposed that every per- 
son might be permitted in that society to subscribe for whatever 
good purpose he should adopt : it was shown plainly that, by 
this vote, they would exclude from the society every one who 
wished to do public good, and who yet might not choose to 
subscribe to Mr. Wilkes, or, having given something, might not 
consent to subscribe any more. Mr. Wilkes would listen to no 
terms ; he was now sure to accomplish his wishes, and saw, that 
from this day, the society would either exist no longer, or would 
exist for him only* JOHN HORNE." 

LETTER XL 

To the Rev. Mr, Home.\ 

June 20. 

" Sir, — I now proceed to examine your twelfth letter, J and, 
according to the notice I gave you, to close a correspondence 
which the public have long ago called upon me to conclude. 1 
shall therefore, necessarily, in taking leave of you, consider a 
few other particulars, which from hurry or inadvertency, I have 
omitted. 

The account you have published of the society, called the 
Supporters of the Bill of Rights, and their proceedings, is 
equally prolix and fallacious. In the state of the pecuniary 
transactions of the society, you give so perplexed a detail of 
my affairs, that I am totally at a loss to comprehend your ac- 
counts. You pretended, in a former letter, that at the institu- 
tion of that society I was scarcely thought of, and you endea- 
vored to prove that paradox by a single advertisement after the 



* The reader will readily perceive that Mr. Home never attended a meeting 
of the Bill of Rights Society after the day above mentioned — the 26th of Febru- 
ary, 1771. It is important to note this fact, as will hereafter appear. 

j I here insert the greater part of Mr. Wilkes's last letter to Mr. Home, by 
which the reader will be enabled to judge of the whole. Contemptible quibbling 
and coarse language characterize all his letters in tliis correspondence. 

t The previous letter of Mr. Home, in the original series, was No. 13. 

30 



2B4 jLEITERS from JOHIV HOKSii 

second meeting, omitting all the resolutions of the Jirst at the 
very formation of the society, which I have already quoted. 
Will you, sir, allow the society themselves to determine what 
their own intentions were ? Feb. 26, 1771, it was resolved ^ 
'That the^r*^ object of this society, in order to promote the 
purposes of its institution, was to support John Wilkes, esq- 
against ministerial oppression, by discharging his debts and ren- 
dering liim independent.' In your account of Mr. Wilkes's 
debts, you studiously omit a remarkable part of an advertise- 
ment repeatedly published by the Society of the Bill of Rights 
in all the papers. ' N. B. 7149Z. 6s. of Mr. Wilkes's debts 
appear to have been incurred by his having been security for 
other persons.' Did you fear that this might be brought to 
confute your charge of his indifference for the interest of his 
friends, when it appears that he subjected himself to the pay- 
ment of so large a sum on their account ? You will please to 
recollect that, by an early resolution of the society, on May 9, 
1769, printed in the papers, ' All committees of the society are 
to meet on every first and third Tuesday in the month, at the 
London Tavern, at one in the afternoon,' and that the committee 
of accounts, by the advertisement of Nov. 20, 1770, 'was 
always open to all members of the society.' If, therefore, you 
suspected the least fraud from any quarter, it was your duty to 
have attended to detect it. Although you have deserted the 
society, it is still incumbent on you to acquaint them of any 
fraud or collusion you have discovered. I call upon you to 
write a letter, stating the particulars, to the chairman of the 
next meeting, and to give your proofs of the smallest intended 
imposition of any kind, or you will pass for an infamous calum- 
niator of your benefactor, Mr. Reynolds, and other men of 
honor, whom you have wickedly traduced. When you men- 
tion that ' The other 2000/. of the sum recovered from lord 
Halifax were said to be paid to Mr. Reynolds, i. e. 1200/. for 
Mr. Reynolds's law charges, &c., and 800/. to discharge some 
debts contracted by another breach of trust towards the Buck- 
inghamshire militia, when Mr. Wilkes was their colonel,' you 
well know that you are deceiving the public, for I have fre- 
quently told you I paid Mr. Reynolds 2000/. on account for law 



TO JOHN WILKES. 



235 



charges and debt, which he paid for me. The breach of trust, 
you talk of, is among your many barefaced falsehoods, which 
will cover you with infamy. Your characteristic is the evil spirit 
of lying." 

You say, 'He took a country house at sixty guineas /or the 
season ; and to complete his plan of economy, he sent his 
daughter to Paris to see the Dauphin^s wedding, whilst himself 
was all the summer making the tour of the watering places.^ I 
rented a ready-furnished house at sixty guineas for the year, while 
mysmall house here wasrepairing. Whenit was completed, I let 
the house at Fulham for the remainder of the year. You assert, 
' On quitting the King's Bench prison, he took a house on a 
lease oX. fifty pounds a year.' Is it not possible, sir, for you once 
to tell the whole truth ? The rent is fifty guineas a year. My 
daughter went to Paris at the time of the Dauphin's wedding, 
on the invitation of a lady of fashion to her own house. I met 
her at Dover on her return from France, and during the month 
of August, we made a tour together. When you say, that I 
was ' all the summer making the tour of the watering places,' it 
is a malicious falsehood you designedly utter, for I was only 
absent while the dog-star raged, when there is a vacation from 
all city business. You mean to insinuate a total want of economy^ 
I know the sin that most easily besets me, and I know, too, where 
you and the ministry expect to surprise me. You will both be 
disappointed. My friends have with pleasure remarked m,y 
reformation. 

As to the Rockingham administration, my regard to them 
arises solely from their services to this country and the colonies, 
not from any personal favors. I do not owe a pardon to them, 
although I warmly solicited it during the whole time of their 
power. Soon after tJwy came into employment, I wished to have 
gone in a public character to Constantinople ; but I very soon 
dropped that idea. I never did receive from them either pension, 
gratuity, or reward. When I said precarious, I used the word as 
synonymous with dependent. That upright administration was 
removed in July, 1766. My declaration, ' never to accept from 
the crown either place, pension, gratuity, or emolument of any 
kind,' was not made to my most meritorious constituents, the 



•236 LETTERS FROM JOHN H0R5JE 

freeholders of Middlesex, till June 18, 1768. I then pledged 
myself to them, and added, that ' I would live and die in their 
service, a private gentleman, perfectly free, under no control 
but the laws, under no influence but theirs,' &c. 

Whether you proceed, sir, to a thirteenth, or a thirtieth letter, 
is to me a matter of the most entire indifference. You will no 
longer have me your correspondent. All the efforts of your 
malice and rancor cannot give me a moment's disquietude. 
They will only torment your own breast. I am wholly indif- 
ferent about your sentiments of me, happy in the favorable 
opinion of many valuable friends, in the most honorable con- 
nexions, both public and private, and in the prospect of render- 
ing myself eminently useful to my country. Formerly, in exile, 
M'hen I was urhe patriaqiie extorris,* and torn from every sacred 
tie of friendship, I have moistened my bread with my tears. 
The rest of my life I hope to enjoy my morsel at home in peace 
and cheerfulness, among those I love and honor ; far from the 
malignant eye of the false friend and the insidious hypocrite. 
I am, sir, your humble servant, 

JOHN WILKES." 

LETTER XII. 

To Mr. John Wilkes. 

Give you joy, sir. The parson of Brentford is at length 
defeated.-\ He no longer rules with an absolute sway over the 
city of London. You have detected his Jesuitical deep-laid 
schemes of running away with the monument on his back. 
You have rescued the prostrate livery from his dictatorial 
authority ; have congratulated them on their victory ; and 
restored to them a perfect liberty — of doing whatever you 
please.J The poor parson has been buffeted on the hustings 



* An exile from the city and countrj'. 

t This alludes to the city elections, which turned out, in exact conformity to 
the wishes, and the interest of Mr. Wilkes. 

X Junius in a private letter to Wilkes, August 21, 1771, writes as follows : 
" Whatever imaginary views may be ascribed to the author, it must always 
make part ofJmius'sflan to support Mr. Wilkes while he makes common cause 



TO JOHN WILKES. 237 

where he did not appear, and hissed out of playhouses which he 
never entered ; he has been sung down in the streets, and 
exahed to a conspicuous corner with the pope and the devil 
in the print shops ; and finally, to complete the triumph over 
this mighty adversary, you have caused him to be burnt in effigy. 
Formerly, these arts used to be practised against a minister 
of staU;, or at least against some person whose wealth and 
power might afford a pretence for suspicion of undue influence ; 
but if so insignificant a name as mine can, by paragraphs, &c., 
be made important enough to scare them with apprehensions 
for their independence, you will never want a bugbear for the 
livery. You are heartily welcome to the use you have made 



with the people. I would engage your favorable attention to what I am going 
to say to you ; and I entreat you not to be too hasty in concluding, from the 
apparent tendency of this letter, to any possibleinterests or connexions oi my own." 
" Mr. Home, after doing much mischief, is now I think, completely defeated and 
disarmed. The author of the unhappy divisions in the city is removed. W^hy should 
we suffer his wffrks to live after him ? In this view, I confess, I am vindictive, and 
would visit his sins upon his children. I would punish him in his offspring, by 
repairing the breaches he has made. — Convinced that I am speaking to a man 
who has spirit enough to act if his judgment be satisfied, I will not scruple to 
declare at once, that Mr. Sawbridge ought to be lord mayor, and that he ought to 
owe it to your first motion, and to the exertion of all your credit in the city." 
Junius then gives his reasons for the course he advises \ns friend Wilkes to take. 
The idea of punishing the father by giving his offspring the first office in the 
city was entirely new ; and although the bait was favorably received by Wilkes, 
it was not relished by his party, and Junius was obliged reluctantly to abandon 
the project. Junius said himself, " I do not deny that a stroke like this is above 
the level of vulgar policy, or that if you were a tnuch less considerable man than you 
are, it would not suit you." 

As before observed, particular notice ^vill hereafter be taken of the intimate 
friendship existing between Home and Sawbridge at this time, as well as before 
and afterwards. 

The passage on which I have been commentating in the foregoing extract, 
although in opposition in sentiment, is nevertheless quite in the style of Home ; 
who, in answer to a frivolous impertinent charge, brought against him by Wilkes, 
about the publication of some pamphlets, says, " You bid me give you the evidence 
of Mr. Davis, both the father and the son, and of Mr. Foote. You who bring the 
charge should take the onus probandi ! I can only give my own evidence. They 
must, if they please, give theirs for themselves. But why this Judaism, sir ? 
Why will not Mr. Davis the father satisfy you ? Why visit the sins of the fathers 
upon the children ?" 



"238 I,ETTERS FROM JOHN HORNi: 

of it, and I shall freely forgive you a repetition of the sanie 
indignities, as long as you confine them to the newspapers and 
effigy : but, alas ! all the honors and preferments you have 
heaped upon me have likewise been only in effigy : his grace of 
Grafton invites me to no conference ; lord North admits me to 
no levee ; the Exchequer withholds my pension ; and the bishop 
of Durham will not let me touch one farthing of my quarterage. 
So that I have nothing left to console me but the support of the 
Shelburne faction, the recovery of my old clothes, the sub- 
scriptions I have pocketed, and Sir Joseph's three bank-notes. 

When I first began my public correspondence with you, I 
engaged to give an account of the commencement, progress, and 
conclusion of the intercourse between us ; because, from the cir- 
cumstances of the relation, honest men of any tolerable discern- 
ment will be able to form a judgment how far they ought, and 
how far they ought not, to support you. You engaged, on your 
part, to give a full answer to every charge I should bring. / 
mean to keep my promise ; and though I thought it proper to 
forbear the prosecution of it during the city election, I shall now 
proceed : the deep researches, laborious study, and prodigious 
science necessary to qualify you for the office of sheriflT, will 
excuse you from giving any answer ; and leave you at liberty 
to lie anonymously in the newspapers without detection. 

When the motion was made at the London Tavern, of ' No 
new suhscriptions for the future for any other piuyose ivhatso- 
ever, until all the debts of John Wilkes, esq. should be fully 
discharged,' after a pause of some minutes Mr. Home rose, and 
said he had waited in momentary expectation, that Mr. Wilkes 
would have taken the opportunity to entreat his friend to with- 
draw a motion so fatal to the reputation both of Mr. Wilkes and 
the society: he expressed his amazement that Mr. Wilkes 
could silently hear a measure proposed, which could produce 
nothing but disgrace to both ; but he said it was impossible Mr. 
Wilkes could continue silent upon the subject, unless he was 
willing it should be understood, that this attempt to impose upon 
the public and the society proceeded from himself. Mr. Home 
added, that since the subscription for Mr. Bingley had very 
much offended Mr. Wilkes, and was the avowed reason of this 



TO JOHN WILKES. 

motion to prevent any ' new subscriptions for the future for any 
other purpose whatsoever," he would endeavor to satisfy them 
of the propriety of that subscription, and the impropriety of the 
present motion. Mr. Bingley had above a year before repeat- 
edly sent petitions to the society, which Mr. * had as 

often deferred, in expectation of finishing Mr. Wilkes's affairs, 
and from a desire that nothing might interfere to prevent it ; 
but when it was evident that a party was formed to avoid 
coming to any conclusion, even after th^ee years' attention to 
that single object, it would have been cruel to the poor man to 
have deferred any longer the generous intentions of several 
gentlemen towards him. But there was a much stronger reason 
than private compassion against any further delay ; the freedom 
of the press was materially concerned in moving the subscrip- 
tion for Bingley at the last meeting. Mr. Home said, he was 
sorry to be forced to mention transactions which ought to be 
kept secret, and to explain motives which ought to be under- 
stood but not expressed in large companies ; however, that 
rather than see his intentions of public good defeated by this 
restrictive resolution, he would tell them his chief motive for 
moving the subscription at the last meeting. Mr. Home 
observed, that he had some small time since received informa- 
tion from an authority which he could not doubt, that a certain 
great personage had conversed with the elder Onslow at St. 
James's near half an hour ; that in that conversation it was 
mentioned to Mr. Onslow as a matter of surprise, that the house 
of commons permitted their debates to be published ; and it 
was asked, if it was ever suffered before, and why something 
was not done to prevent it ? This question from such a person 
was well understood to be an order ; and after the repeated 
failures of lord Mansfield in the courts of law, both by infor- 
mation and attachment, it was easy to see whither they would 
next have recourse to destroy the freedom of the press. It was 
plain Mr. Onslow understood it ; for soon after, on the fifth of 
February, his relation, the younger Onslow, made a motion in 
the house of commons, that an order of that house against 



Reynolds. 



240 LETTERS FROM JOHN HORNE 

printing any part of the debates should be read and entered 
amongst the minutes of that day. Mr. Home said, thisw as a 
confirmation to him of his intelHgence, and increased his suspi- 
cions of what was to follow ; he had therefore himself purposely 
caused to be inserted in the Middlesex Journal of February 7, 
an innocent paragraph about Mr. Onslow's motion : expecting 
that the Onsloivs would bring it before the house ; which happened 
as it was foreseen ; for the printers, Wfieble, who first inserted, 
and Thompson, who copied that paragraph, were ordered to 
attend the house of commons. In this interval the society met, 
(on the 12th of February,) before the order of attendance to 
the printers was expired ; and Mr. Home chose that particular 
moment to move the subscription for Bingley, on purpose to 
encourage the printers, (whom it was necessary to use on this 
occasion against the usurped power of the house,) and to show 
them, by this example, that they too would be effectually sup- 
ported, and rewarded for resisting an illegal and scandalous 
attempt upon the freedom of the press. Mr. Home declared, 
that this subscription for Bingley did instantly produce the 
desired effect , and both the printers refused to obey ; and there 
was no doubt, (the law being clear in the case, that a power of 
punishment cannot belong to the house of commons,) that other 
printers would likewise depend upon the laws of their country 
and the support of that society, and refuse obedience to any 
similar usurpation of the house over them. But, said Mr. Home, 
should you now, gentleman, come to a resolution of no new 
subscriptions ' for the future for any other purpose whatsoever 
until all Mr. Wilkes's debts shall be fully discharged,' you will 
undo all that has been done ; the public good effect of Bingley's 
subscription will be lost ; the printers will despair of support ; 
and you cannot expect that they should be able alone and 
unsupported to oppose, however legally, the powers of govern- 
ment, which are now united against the rights of the people ; 
even if they should, the contest would be too unequal, the 
printers would be undone, and the press ruined. He therefore 
entreated them to lay aside all little, factious, private views, and 
forbear a resolution which would certainly be productive of 
such bad consequences to the public, and such dishonor to the 
society. 



TO JOHN WILKES. 



•241 



He concluded with addressing himself again to Mr. Wilkes : 
he called upon his policy, his public spirit, his gratitude, his 
modesty ; all which should strongly persuade him to show his 
disapprobation of a motion which was to restrain gentlemen, 
who had done so much for him, from putting their hands in 
their pockets to relieve any other object of compassion, or to 
promote any public measure. 

To all these arguments, Mr. Wilkes was absolutely dumb ; 
no sense of shame could force a single word from him ; and 
the resolution of no new subscriptions for the future hut for Mr, 
Wilkes, was carried, himself being present, by the same gen- 
tlemen who had before voted against Bingley's subscription, 
and some other personal friends of Mr. Wilkes, who had been 
brought thither for the purpose, amongst whom were his two 
brothers, his attorney, &c. JOHN HORNE. 

•Tuly 10." 

Respecting the justice of this dispute, there can be little 
hesitation ; but, in regard to its impolicy, no doubt whatever 
can now be entertained. Mr. Home did not succeed in his 
attempt to expose Mr. Wilkes to the multitude, for he became 
more popular than ever, and that too, in consequence of the 
opposition to his career. 

This gentleman, indeed, although his talents and learning 
were far inferior, yet, by means of superior skill, and a more 
intimate knowledge of mankind, appears, on the whole, to have 
foiled his adversary. By stoutly denying some, and artfully 
parrying other charges against his character, he continued to 
confuse and perplex the whole business ; and although Mr. 
Home had most, if not all the respectable men on his side, yet 
the pubUc at large, which is seldom capable of entering into a 
minute and laborious investigation, after being some time bewil- 
dered in the maze of a prolonged periodical correspondence, 
at length declared, fully and unequivocally, in behalf of Mr, 
Wilkes. While their common enemies rejoiced at a quarrel 
which, by dividing, weakened their party, and, for a time at 
least, subjected both of the champions to the animadversions* 
and even to the ridicule of the public. 

31 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 



CHAPTER XIIL 



introductory Remarks — Examples of the Practice and Skill of 
Junius in attacking and defending himself — Sentiments of 
Junius in respect to Wilkes — -Criticism on the Correspondence 
of Junius and Home. 

As Mr. Wilkes had triumphed over his adversary by candying 
the city elections, and had declined any farther correspondence 
with Mr. Home, the latter was left in a very awkward position- 
In this dilemma it became necessary for him to seek out some 
new scheme for revenge ; and having, it seems, the command 
of Junius's pen, he substitutes Junius for Wilkes, and continues 
the warfare ; and, as it is allowed on all hands, with complete 
success. The attack through Junius was made the 9th of July, 
1771, the day previous to the date of his last letter to Wilkesr^ 
So no time was lost. 

Mr. Home was so conscious of the integrity of his views and 
the justness of his cause, that he felt confident, if he could 
make the case fairly understood, that at least, that portion of 
the public which was governed by reason and common sense, 
would declare in his favor. And this was evidently the fact at 
the conclusion of this sham controversy. 

Wilkes had gained the populace, and consequently the elec- 
tions had terminated agreeably to his views. The battle was 
over. — Home was vanquished— completely prostrated, Undei" 



;244 MISCELLANEOUS 

these circumstances was it possible that an honorable man, a by- 
stander who had hitherto remained a peaceable spectator of the 
fray, should now step forward and aim a deadly blow at the 
fallen combatant ? Had this been the case, well might Home 
have exclaimed in earnest, Wilkes, Foote, and Junius, united at 
the same time against one poor parson, are fearful odds ! But 
Home was well assured that he should receive no injury from 
his friend Junius. They were upon this occasion, as usual, co- 
operating in support of one common cause. The assailant, 
and the repeller, it is apparent throughout the correspondence 
of Junius and Home, were but one person under different cha- 
racters. — The character of Wilkes was so abandoned, and that 
of Home so correct and disinterested, that no person, possess- 
ing the principles and good sense of Junius, could have been 
so lost to decency and respect for his own reputation as seri- 
oiishj to vindicate the former and condemn the latter. 

Is it credible, that Home and Junius, Nisus and Euryalus, ii" 
they had been distinct persons, who had thus long carried on a 
vindictive warfare against the common enemy — both aiming at the 
same goal, and mutually supporting each other — the one com- 
bating in face of the foe, in open field — the other in ambush, 
aiming his envenomed shafts with unerring skill at the same 
objects, should, without the least deviation in either from the 
principles which both had uniformly supported, turn bitter foes, 
and revile and reproach each other ? Credat Judceus Apella ! 

That the same opinions were entertained and often expressed 
of Wilkes, the ostensible cause of the quarrel, under both cha- 
racters. Home and Junius, I shall fully show hereafter. 

The pretended difference of Home and Junius, so far from 
militating against the probability of the former being the au- 
thor of the letters under the signature of the latter, in my 
opinion, is one of the strongest arguments in favor of it. 

Tte following judicious remarks are extracted from the Mis- 
cellaneous Works of George Hardinge, esq. (see Barker, p. 
142.) " I cannot help wondering that, by examining the politics 
of each paper, those of his (Junius's) time did not find him out. 
But these cheats often hold out false colors, and put us upon a 
wrong scent. For example, if I was the reputed writer of a 



ARTICLES. "245 

libel, I should abuse myself or my bosom friends, to disarm the 
suspicion." 

Two important objects were intended to be accomplished by 
this controversy. The one, to show the merits of the dispute 
with Wilkes, and thereby render him despicable in the view of 
the thinking part of the community. The other, to blind the 
eyes of the public in respect to the author of the letters of 
Junius. Both of which were effected. 

Mr. Wilkes was a politician by profession ; a profession, says 
Joel Barlow, in his " Advice to the Privileged Orders of Eu- 
rope," more injurious to society than that of a highway robber. 
The following sketch of his character is given by Mr. Bissett, 
in his History of the Reign of George III. : 

" John Wilkes, esq., member of parliament for Aylesbury, 
was a man of ready ingenuity, versatile talents, taste, and clas- 
sical erudition ; he was distinguished for wit and pleasantry, 
and sm'passed most men as an entertaining companion. He 
was not, however, eminent as a senator or lawgiver. He was 
extremely dissipated, and as indifferent to morals as to his pecu- 
niary circumstances. Prodigality had ruined his fortune, and 
profligacy his character. Bankrupt in circumstances and repu- 
tation, he had applied to lord Bute to extricate him from his dif- 
ficulties. His character was so notorious, that a statesman who 
regarded morality could not patronize, though he might easily 
have rendered him a tool. Wilkes in revenge, became a. flaming 
patriot, inveighed against the attacks of our rights and liberties, 
and against the wickedness of the rulers ; and the North Briton 
was one of the chief vehicles of his animadversions. The 
course which the ministry pursued gave a consequence both to 
the paper and its author, which the intrinsic merit of either 

would never have attained." " On the 23d of April, 1763, 

this number (45) was published, and it was no sooner perused 
by the ministry, than a council was called, and an immediate 
prosecution proposed. The chief justice Mansfield declared 
his disapprobation of that mode of procedure : ' I am (lie said) 
decidedly against the prosecution: his consequence will die 
away if you let him alone ; but by public notice of him, you 
will increase that consequence ; wliich is the very thing he 



'246 MISCELLANEOUS 

covets, and keeps in full view.' The contraiy opinion, liowever, 
prevailed ; and on the 26th a warrant was issued for seizing 
the authors, printers, and publishers of the North Briton, No. 
45." 

Previously to taking a slight review of the correspondence of 
Junius and Home, I will quote from the Miscellaneous Letters 
of Junius other examples of his adroitness in attacking and de- 
fending himself The intention being merely to show the 
eminent qualifications of Junius for this species of finesse, the 
subject matter of the letters will be but slightly glanced over. 

In August, 1768, he wrote a series of letters under different 
signatures, addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 
reflecting chiefly on the public conduct of the earl of Hillsbo- 
rough, particularly in respect to the removal of sir Jeffery 
Amherst from the governorship of Virginia, to which place, it 
seems, he had been appointed. In regard to whose dismission 
Junius finally shows he cared as little as he probably did about 
the removal of Philip Francis from a clerkship in the war- 
office. 

As these attacks appear to have excited but little attention, 
he at length addressed the earl personally, under the signature 
of Lucius, as follows : 

To the earl of Hillsborough. 

28 August, 1 ■768. 

'• My lord, — The honorable lead you have taken in the affairs 
of America, hath drawn upon you the whole attention of the 
public. You declared yourself the single minister for that 
country, and it was very proper you should convince the world 
vou were so, by marking your outset with a coup cTeclat. The 
dismission of sir Jeffery Amherst has given a perfect establish- 
ment to your authority, and I presume you will not think it 
necessary or useful to hazard strokes of this sort hereafter. It 
will be adviseable at least to wait until this affair is forgotten, 
and if you continue in office till that happens, you will surely be 
long enough a minister to satisfy all your ambition. 

The wrorld attributes to your lordship the entire honor of sir 
Jefferv Amherst's dismission, because there is no other person 



ARTICLES. 



247 



m the cabinet, who could be supposed to have a wish or motive 
to give such advice to tlie crown." 

[Here Junius gives reasons why the members of the cabinet 
whom he names would not probably have given the advice 
complained of and proceeds :] 

" I think I have now named all the cabinet but the earl of 
Chatham. 

His infirmities have forced him into a retirement, where I 
presume he is ready to suffer, with a sullen submission, every 
insult and disgrace that can be heaped upon a miserable, de- 
crepid, worn out old man. But it is impossible he should be so 
far active in his own dishonor, as to advise the taking away an 
employment, given as a reward for the first military success that 
distinguished his entrance into administration. He is indeed a 
compound of contradictions, but his letter to sir Jeffery Amherst 
stands upon record, and is not to be explained away. You 
know, my lord, that Mr. Pitt therein assured sir Jeffery Am- 
herst, that the government of Virginia was given him merely as 
a reward, and solemnly pledged the royal faith that his resi- 
dence should never be required. Lost as he is,* he would not 
dare to contradict this letter. If he did, it would be something 
more than madness. The disorder must have quitted his head, 
and fixed itself in his heart. 

The business is now reduced to a point, either your lordship 
advised this measure, or it happened by accident. You must 
suffer the whole reproach, for you are entitled to all the honor 
of it. What then is apparently the fact ? one of your cringing, 
bowing, fawning, sword-bearing brother courtiersf ruins him- 
self by an enterprise,! wliich would have ruined thousands if 
it had succeeded. It becomes necessary to send him abroad, 
Sir Jeffery Amherst is one of the mildest and most moderate 



* It will be recollected that it is attempted, in the correspondence of Junius 
and Home, to make the former a warm friend of this same lord Chatham. 

t Lord Boutetort. 1 The W y Company, 



248 MISCELLANEOLS 

of men ; — ergo, such a man will bear any thing. His govern- 
ment will be a handsome provision for Boutetort, and if he 
frets — why he may have a pension. Your emissaries lose then* 
labor, when they talk with so much abhorrence of sinecures, 
non-residence, and the necessity of the king's service. You 
are conscious, my lord, that these are pompous words without 
a shadow of meaning. The whole nation is convinced that the 
fact is such as I have stated it. But to make it a little plainer,^ 
I shall ask your lordship a few questions, to which the public 
will expect, and your reputation, if you have any regard for 
it, demands, that you should give an immediate and strict 
answer. 

1. When the government of Virginia was offered to sir Jef- 
fery Amherst, did he not reply, that his military employments 
took up all his time, and that he could not accept the govern- 
ment if residence were expected ? 

2. Did not Mr. Pitt, then secretary of state, assure him in 
the king's name, that it was meant only as a mark of his Ma- 
jesty's favor, and that this residence would never be expected.'' 
&c. 

" Now, my lord, you have voluntarily embarked in a most 
odious, perhaps it may prove to you a most dangerous, business. 
Your Pylades will sneak away to his government ; but you 
must bear the brunt of it here. For the questions which I have 
proposed to you, I must tell you plainly, that they must and shall 
he answered. 

You may affect to take no notice of them, perhaps, and tell us 
you treat them with the contempt they deserve. Such an expe- 
dient may be wise and spirited enough when applied to a decla- 
ration of rebellion on the part of the colonies, and God knows 
it has succeeded admirably. But it shall not avail you here. 

Num negare audes? Quid taces? Convincam cinegas.* 

LUCIUS. 



+ Now dare you deny? Why are you silent? I will convict you if you deny 

~-.^w. Ed 



ARTICLES. 



'U% 



Junius, It will be perceived, was determined to have an oppo- 
nent ; " the questions (he says) which I have proposed must 
and shall be answered." Accordingly, the next day he comes 
out against himself under the signature of Cleophas, as follows : 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

30 August, 176S. 

" Sir, — I shall not pretend to enter into the merits of sir Jef- 
fery Amherst's dismission from his government of Virginia. 
Every body knows he deserves a great deal of the public : and 
if what I have heard be true, even the present administration 
do not refuse it him. But there are a number of busy incen- 
diaries, who use every means to poison the minds of the good 
peopleof England, and toabuse those in power, whoever they are. 
These neither inquire into the truth of the matter, nor do they 
fail to show the most disagreeable view of every action of the 
ministry. An impudent varlet, Y. Z., in this day's paper, talks 
of forty or fifty lives lost in St. George's Fields. When was it ? 
Others have heaped together a parcel of ill-natured lies, and 
given it the name of an account of the dismission of sir Jeffery 
Amherst. 

The particulars of sir Jeffery Amherst's dismission, I am told 
are as follow." 

[Here are given a number of futile reasons for this dismis- 
sion.] 

" I shall make no comment on this. I tell it as a fact, which 
I have heard from what people call good authority. The dis- 
mission of an experienced and desei*ving commander requires 
some attention ; and there can be no harm in making the public 
acquainted with it. The number of falsehoods that have been 
spread abroad about this transaction have induced me to send 
you this. 

I must tell you, however, that my information is second hand, 
but it may have this good effect, even if not true, to induce 
those who know the contrary to do as I have done, I shall 

32 



JiaO MISCELLANEOUS 

therefore conclude witli this question : are these things true oi 
not? CLEOPHAS."^ 

To the earl of Hillsborough. 

1 September, 1768. 

'' My lord, — In the ordinary course of life, a regularity of 
accounts, a precision in points of fact, and a punctual reference 
to dates, form a strong presumption of integrity. On the other 
hand, an apparent endeavor to perplex the order and simpHcity 
of facts, to confound dates, and to wander from the main ques- 
tion, are shrewd signs of a rotten cause and a guilty conscience* 
Let the public determine between your lordship and me. You 
have forfeited all title to respect ; but I shall treat you with 
tenderness and mercy, as I would a criminal at the bar of jus- 
tice. 

In your letter signed Cleophas you are pleased to assume the 
character of a person half informed. We understand the use of 
this expedient.* You avail yourself of every thing that can be 
said for you by a third person, without being obliged to abide 
by the apology, if it should fail you. My lord, this is a paltry 
art, unworthy of your station, unworthy of every thing but the 
cause you have undertaken to defend. While you pursue these 
artifices, it is impossible to know on what principles you really 
rest your defence. But you may shift your ground as often as 
you please ; you shall gain no advantage by it. Your lordship, 
under the character of Cleophas, is exactly acquainted with 
particulars, which could only be known to a few persons, while 
you totally forget a series of facts known to thousands." 

" Permit me now to refer your lordship to the questions stated 
in my last letter, and to desire you to answer them strictly. If 
you do not, the public will draw its own conclusions. 

Your emissaries, my lord, have rather more zeal than discre- 
tion. One of them, who calls himself A considerate English- 
man, could not write by authority, because he is entirely unac- 



No one understood this finesse better than Junius. 



ARTICLES. ii5l 

quainted with facts. His declamation tlierefore signiiie?; 
nothing. In his assertions however there is something really 
not unpleasant. He assures us that your lordship's great abilities 
were brought into employment to correct the blunders of Mr. 
Pitt's administration. It puts me in mind of the consulsliip 
which Caligula intended for his horse, and of a project which 
Buckhorse once entertained of obliging the learned world with 
a correct edition of the classics. LUCIUS." 

To the Pirnter of the Public Advertiser. 

7 September, 176o', 
" Sir, — As I have not the least intention to enter into any 
dispute with Lucius, indulge me but this once, and give me leave 
to assure you, it shall be the last on the subject from me ; and 
though this man writes so ungenteelly, that he scarce deserves 
an answer, yet I could not help thinking this much necessary 
in justice to a nobleman whom he has most shamefully attacked 
in consequence of my letter, but whose character is above the 
reach of malice, and who will be respected when such^e^^^s of 
society are no more. 

The account I sent you relative to the resignation of sir 
Jeffery Amherst I had heard publicly talked of at table, and in 
a coffee-house ; it was told as no secret ; but was said to be 
from very good authority. I sent it as a piece of intelligence 
without either adding or diminishing. I made no comment on 
it as I intended no offence. Facts were stated as they were 
told, and as no dates were mentioned, I gave none. I left it to 
the public to form opinions as they pleased; to sir Jeffery 
Amherst's friends to contradict it if they thought proper ; and 
it has served as a bone for curs of opposition to snarl at. 

Though I do not mean to enter into any dispute with this 
fellow, yet I cannot help making a few observations on his letter. 
That the government of Virginia was given awayfourdays before 
the intention of administration was mentioned to sir Jeffery 
Amherst, I have good ground to believe it is not fact : and if 
you, Lucius, possessed but one grain of honesty, and if you 
had no other intention but to communicate useful information 



252 MISCELLANEOUS 

to the public, you would have told them so ; that it was applied 
for as soon as it was whispered that such a measure was to be 
adopted, upon the supposition that sir JefFery Amherst would 
not choose to reside, I can believe : that it was promised to 
lord Boutetort in case he did not, I can likewise believe ; and 
this might have been four, or even fourteen days, for ought I 
know, before it was mentioned ; but pray where is the harm in 
all this ? 

But speak out malevolence, speak envy, disappointment and 
ill-nature. What in the name of goodness could be sir Jeffery 
Amherst's objection to lord Boutetort 1 Was it because he is 
a nobleman ? Because he has gone to the chapel at St. James's 
and has carried the sword of state before his king ? Because 
he never has insulted majesty, but has always behaved himself 
as a dutiful and loyal subject, and respectfully to his sovereign ? 
Are these the weighty motives for objecting to his succession ? 
Or is it still a greater crime to be poor ? And do these make 
it an affront, not an injury ? Forbid it heaven ! Forbid it sir 
Jeffery Amherst's better genius ! What would you have had. 
Lucius ? Would you have wished to have had the naming of 
sir Jeffery's successor ! What a pity you had not ! I declare 
you deserved it ! How could my lord Hillsborough dare to 
recommend without your permission ! 

It is strange, Lucius, that you cannot write one line without 
abuse. Had you made your remarks upon the duke of Grafton's 
answer to the first article without abusing his grace, it would 
have been genteel ; but the scurrilous language you use, even 
when your arguments are just, proves that you are equally 
acquainted with the gentleman, and sense of honor. 

Whatever delicate feelings you, Mr. Lucius, may have, I 
know not ; but I am of opinion that sinecure places, non-resi- 
dent governments, and pensions are in fact the same, though 
different in names : nay, the worst of the whole appears to me 
to be a non-resident governor. 

And, after all, what was sir Jeffery Amherst but a pensioner 
on the colony of Virginia ? he did nothing for it, and was paid. 
Our idea of a pension is a reward granted for past services, so 
was his — such as you. Lucius, such tools of opposition such 



ARTICLES. "253 

Stale incendiaries, venal mercenarif ivretches are glad to receive, 
rewards of your labors infinitely less honorable than either place 
or pension. 

And now, Mr. Lucius, I'll tell you a secret. Your supposing 
my letter to come from my lord Hillsborough, in my opinion 
did credit to the performance, and honor to me ; but in justice 
to him I must declare, that I am not, know not, never saw, nor 
never spoke to the earl of Hillsborough in my life — but just a? 
formerly, CI.EOPHAS.*' 

To the earl of Hillshorough. 

9 September, 176o. 

'' My lord, — It is indifferent to the public, whether the letters 
signed Cleophas are written by your lordship, or under your 
immediate direction. Whoever commits this humble begging 
language to paper, we know to a certainty the person by whom 
it is held. We know the suppliant style your lordship has con- 
descended to adopt at routs, at tea-tables, and in banker's shops. 
But although you have changed your tone, I am bound in honor 
not to give you quarter. You have offended heinously against 
your country, and public justice demands an example for the 
welfare of mankind. 

I foresaw Cleophas would soon be disavowed. It seems the 
poor gentleman never saw, nor spoke to your lordship in his life. 
hut just as formerly. The saving is a good one. 

You say your character is above the reach of malice. True, 
my lord, you have fixed that reproach upon your character to 
which malice can add nothing. You say it will be respected 
when such pests of society as I am are no more. I agree with 
you that it is very little respected at present,* and believe I may 



* This has a particular reference to the author personally. At present is 
printed in italics in Woedfall's edition, and was of course so marked by the 
author; which would almost make one suppose he intended to point himself out. 
The letter was written a little over five mouths after the famous election at 
Middlesex, in which Mr. Home took so conspicuous a part in favor of Wilkes. 
This, no doubt, rendered him extremely obnoxious to the clergy of the established 
'^hurch of which he was a member, as well as to the oonrt party ffenorally. 



■2o4 MISCELLANEOUS 

unlnckily have been the spoil of good company ; but I doubt 
whether my death, or even your own, will restore you to your 
good fame. Your peace of mind is gone for ever. 

Your questions in favor of lord Boutetort amount to nothing. 
It is not that he is a bad man, or an undutiful subject. But he 
is a trifling character and ruined in his fortunes. Poverty of 
itself is certainly not a crime. Yet the prodigahty, which 
squanders a fair estate, is in the first instance dishonorable ; — 
in the next it leads to every species of meanness and dependence, 
and when it aims at a recovery at the expense of better men. 
becomes highly criminal.* Will your lordship, can you, with 
a steady countenance, affirm that it was the necessities of the 
state, and not his own, which sent him to Virginia ? 

I shall conclude with hinting to you (in a way which you 
alone will understand) that there is a part of my behavior to 
you, for which you owe me some acknowledgment. I know 
the ostensible defence you have given to the public differs 
widely from the real one intrusted privately to your friends. 
You are sensible that the most distant insinuation of what that 
defence is would ruin you at once. But I am a man of honor, 
and will neither take advantage of your imprudence, nor of the 
difficulty of your situation. LUCIUS." 

To the earl of Hillshorougli. 

15 September, 1760. 
" My lord, — There is no surer sign of a weak head than a 
settled depravity of heart. A base action is a disorder of the 
mind, and next to the folly of doing it, is the folly which defends 
it. Had the letter signed Lucius never been answered,f you 
would not have so shamefully betrayed the weakness of your 
cause, and your silence might have been interpreted into a 
consciousness of innocence. The question is now exhausted, 
for the public is convinced. How well or ill we have argued 
is of infinitely less importance than the integrity of facts. Yet 



.K fair hit at John Wilkes. + Answered bv Jnniii? himself. 



ARTICLES. 2o.> 

even lacts, though separately true, will prove nothing, if the 
order in w^hich they happened be confounded." 

" That you are a civil, polite person is true. Few men un- 
derstand the little morals better, or observe the great ones less, 
than your lordship. You can bow and smile in an honest man's 
face, while you pick his pocket. These are the virtues of a 
court in which your education has not been neglected. In any 
other school you might have learned that simplicity and integ- 
rity are worth them all. Sir Jeffery Amherst was fighting the 
battles of this country, while you, my lord, the darling child of 
prudence and urbanity, were practising the generous arts of a 
courtier, and securing an honorable interest in the antichamber 
of a favorite. LUCIUS. 

P. S. A friend of mine has taken the pains to collect a num- 
ber of the epithets with which lord Hillsborough has been 
pleased to honor me in the course of our correspondence. I 
shall lay them before the public in one view, as a specimen of 
his lordship's urbanity and singular condescension. 

1. Wretched scribbler. 2. Worthless fellow. 3. Vile incen- 
diary. 4. False liar, in opposition to a true one. 5. Snarler. 
6. Contemptible thing. 7. Abandoned tool of opposition, and 
diabolical miscreant. 8. Impudent, scunilous wretch. 9. Ras- 
cal and scoundrel, passim.* 10. Barking cur ; by ivay of dis- 
tinction from II. Barking animal ; cum multis aliis. 

To all which I shall only say, that his lordship's arguments 
are upon a level with his politeness." 

So we find the author did not mind being called hard names 
under an assumed character, and as to that of John Home, he 
had been so inured to foul language under the discipline of his 
friend Wilkes, as to become perfectly callous to its effects. 

After all these attacks, rejoinders, and rebutters, Junius shows 
his indifference to the subject matter of dispute, in a letter 
dated Nov. 14, in which he expresses himself as follows : 

" In one gazette we see sir Jeffery Amherst dismissed ; in the 
very next, we see him restored, and both without reason or 

* In many places. 



"2;3G MISCELLANEOUS 

decency. The peerage, which had been absolutely refused, is 
granted, and as in the first instance the royal faith was violated, 
in the second the royal dignity is betrayed." 

Junius played the same double game in the case of general 
Gansel ; who had been rescued from the bailiffs by soldiers 
under his command. He commenced upon this subject 
under his own proper signature, but delayed its prosecution in 
that character till he could furnish himself more fully with the 
facts. In the mean time he both justifies and abuses himself 
under the signatures of X. X. and Y. Y. 

Whenever any article, not written by Junius, is admitted into 
this collection of Miscellaneous Letters, for the better under- 
standing of the subject, which is rarely the case, it is so stated 
by Mr. Woodfall, as will be observed in respect to a writer under 
the signature of Modestus. 

Junius, under the signature of Y. Y., thus addresses the 
printer of the Public Advertiser : 

Nov. 23, 17G9. 

" Sir, — Junius and his journeymen have engrossed the whole 
alphabet ; but from A. B. to X. X. the style and manner of the 
shop are easily discovered. From alpha to omega, the same 
attention to a period, and the same neglect of good sense, 
manners, and propriety. However, Mr. X. X. in to-day's Pub- 
lic Advertiser has even out-heroded Herod." He then states 
that a writer under the signature of Modestus (who, Mr. Wood- 
fall says, was a Mr. Dalrymple, a Scotch lawyer,) " had demon- 
strated that the narrative (given by Junius respecting general 
Gansel's affair) was false in every circumstance material to the 
question ; and the observations not only ridiculous in the view 
of supporting the conclusion attempted here to be drawn, but 
in a supreme degree injudicious to the cause they were intended 
to promote. 

To this Junius makes no reply, and Modestus, after a decent 
forbearance, presumes to put him in mind of his challenge. 
This produced the letter signed Junius, in your paper one day 
last week ; in which, to speak negatively, he neither supports 
tlie truth of his narrative, or the justice of his observations, and 



ARTICLES. 



251 



ill which to speak positively, he gives up both. Not fairly, nor 
with the candor of a gentleman, who is convinced of his rash 
and dangerous mistake ; but with the struggles and evasions of 
a culprit who is convicted of a crime." 

" It was, to be sure, the height of insolence in Modestus to 
attack the favorite of the public ; but it may be pleaded in his 
excuse, that the public has several favorites who are shrewdly 
suspected of being unworthy of its favor, and Junius has staked 
and forfeited that favor of which he had much reason to be 
proud. But pray, Mr. X. X., have not you been guilty of a 
trifling error by substituting the public in place of the mob ?" 
&c. "Y.Y.". 

Modestus seemed to understand the arts of Junius, as appears 
by the following commencement of a letter which he addressed 
to him : 

FOR THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER. 

26 November, 1769, 
To Junius. 

" Sir, — Though you may choose to ve^t your iUiberal resent- 
ment under the borrowed signature of X. X., I, who think scur- 
rility no disgrace to your real name, shall not affect to make a 
distinction where there is no difference. For the same reason 
I do not plead that Junius having given the challenge, I am not 
bound to enter the lists against any other. It is a peculiar ad- 
vantage in this sort of warfare, that when a man is routed in 
his own person, he can still keep the field under another ; and 
you in particular have a right to the device, non vultus non 
coloi' unus. 

After giving up the question as Junius, you come back upon 
it as X. X. It would be a labor indeed to answer you the same 
questions in every form you are pleased to assume. But for 
once I will take the trouble to repeat what I have already said, 
not from any merit or novelty in your questions, but to leave 
vou without excuse," &c. MODESTUS." 

33 



'25s MISCELLANEOUS 

I will give one more example of the artitice of Junius in 
abusing himself, and making weak, insidious defences for his 
adversaries. 

In his Letters, No. 34, he thus addresses the duke of Grafton : 

12 Dec. 1769. 
" My lord, — I find with some surprise, that you are not sup- 
ported as you deserve. Your most determined advocates have 
scruples about them, which you are unacquainted with ; and, 
though there be nothing too hazardous for your grace to engage 
in, there are some things too infamous for the vilest prostitute 
of a newspaper to defend.* In what other manner shall we 
account for the profound, submissive silence, which you and 
your friends have observed upon a charge, which called imme- 
diately for the clearest refutation, and would have justified 
the severest measures of resentment ? I did not attempt to 
blast your character by an indirect, ambiguous insinuation, but 
candidly stated to you a plain fact, which struck directly at the 
integrity of a privy counsellor, of a first commissioner of the 
treasury, and of a leading minister, who is supposed to enjoy 
the first share in his majesty's confidence.! In every one of 
these capacities I employed the most moderate terms to charge 
you with treachery to your sovereign, and breach of trust in 
your oflSce. I accused you of having sold, or permitted to be 
sold, a patent place in the collection of the customs at Exeter, 
to one Mr. Hine, who, unable or unwilling to deposit all the 
purchase-money himself, raised part of it by contribution, and 
has now a certain Doctor Brooke quartered upon the salary for 
one hundred pounds a year. — No sale by the candle was ever 
conducted with greater formality. — I afl[irm that the price at 
which the place was knocked down (and which, I have good 
reasontothink, was not less than three thousand five hundred 



* From the preceding to this date, not one word was said in defence of the 
infamous duke of Grafton. But vice and impudence soon recovered themselves, 
and the sale of the royal favor was openly avowed and defended. We acknow- 
ledge the piety of St. James's ; but what is become of his morality ? 

■i And by the same means preserve it to tliis hour. 



ARTICLES. 



259 



pounds) was, with your connivance and consent, paid to colonel 
Burgoyne, to reward him, I presume, for the decency of his 
deportment at Preston ;* or to reimburse him, perhaps, for the 
fine of one thousand pounds, which, for that very deportment, 
the court of King's Bench thought proper to set upon him. — It 
is not often that the chief justice and the prime minister are so 
strangely at variance in their opinions of men and things." 

To the foregoing Mr. AVoodfall subjoins the following letter 
and remarks in a note : 

" The friends of the duke chiefly attempted to shelter him 
under a denial that this transaction was done with his conni- 
vance or consent. The following is a letter upon this subject, 
in answer to the charge of Junius, inserted in the Public Adver- 
tiser, Dec. 14, 1769. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

Sir, — The infamous traduction of that libeller Junius, his 
daring falsehoods, and gross misrepresentations, excite in me 
the utmost abhorrence and contempt, and I hope all his deadly 
poisons will be sheathed in the natural antidote every good 
mind has to malevolent and bitter invective. Wliat act of 
delinquency has the duke of Grafton committed, by colonel 
Burgoyne disposing of a patent obtained of his grace ? Will 
Junius dare to assert it was with the duke's privity, or for his 
emolument ? Let us state the fact, and disarm the assassin at 
once. A place in the custom-house at Exeter becomes vacant- 
colonel Burgoyne asks it of the duke of Grafton — he gives it. — 
The colonel says I cannot hold it myself; will you give it my 



* Colonel, afterwards general Burgoyne, Avas comnussioned by administration 
to offer himself as a candidate, upon a parliamentary vacancy in the borough of 
Preston. During the contest that ensued, he suffered his partisans to commit 
the most disgraceful excesses ; and having squandered not less than ten thousand 
pounds, without success at last, he was, upon the close of the election, prosecuted 
for his riot, and fined, as stated in the text. — Ed. 



260 3IISCELLAXEOUS 

friend ? — The duke consents — the colonel nominates — the duke 
appoints ; — but, says Junius, the colonel set it up to sale, and 
actually received a sum of money for it. Be it so — he took a 
gross sum for what was given him as an annual income ; and 
who is injured by this ? If the duke of Grafton sold it, he is 
impeachable : if he gave it to be sold, he is blameable ; but if 
his grace did neither, which is the fact,* he is basely belied, 
and most impudently and wickedly vijified. I am, sir, your 
best friend, JUSTICE. 

Dec. 12. 

Junius, nevertheless, completely accomphshed his object ; the 
noble duke not choosing to persevere in this prosecution of 
Vaughan, with the prospect of a counter accusation." 

Although Mr. Woodfall does not designate the letter signed 
Justice as written by Junius, there is an internal evidence of the 
fact. It bears the same date as the letter of Junius to the 
duke of Grafton, although printed two days afterwards, and there 
can be no doubt accompanied it. The manner of making the 
defence, and the subscription, your best friend, are conclusive 
in the case. Besides " not one word was said in defence of the 
duke of Grafton ;" and Junius, as in the case of lord Hillsborough, 
was deteirmined to have an opponent. 

Thus it appears that Junius, in his concealed character, was 
in the habit of abusing himself to answ er certain purposes ; and 
it is not unreasonable to suppose that Home pursued the same 
course in respect to himself personally. The advantages to be 
obtained by this mode of warfare are easily appreciated. The 
refutation of weak arguments put into the mouth of an adversary 
is readily effected ; which was precisely the case in Home's 
dispute with Junius. This fact should not be lost sight of in 
this discussion. The perfect indifference and contempt shown 



* The writer had before virtually admitted the contrary, and therefore this hardy 
assertion was designed for no effect. He intended the charge should be believed, 
but as a faint show of defence, denies, what all the circumstances go to prove, 
that the transaction took place with the knowledge and consent of the duke.—. 
.?m. Edit. 



ARTICLES. 



261 



by Mr. Home for personal abuse of liimself, tend to con'oborate 
this supposition. Tliis indifference is exemplified in the follow- 
ing extracts from Stephen's Memoirs. 

" Mr. Home Tooke evinced not merely a manly fortitude, 
while exposed to the puny attempts of anonymous enemies, 
but a degree of scorn and contempt at their efforts, which I 
never before or since witnessed in any other man. He con- 
stantly obtained all the caricatures published relative to himself 
or his friends, and immediately hung them up in the apartment 
where he received his company, so as to be exposed to the 
gaze of all his visitors. One of the first times I ever saw Sir 
Francis Burdett in his house, he invited him to hear a satire 
composed for the express purpose of vilifying both. Our host 
then sat down, and read aloud the most aggravating passages 
against them, coolly commenting on the poetry, and examining 
the merits of the production, which he had now seen for the 
first time, with a clear, calm, and unruffled brow, as if wholly 
unconcerned as to the event. When any of the lines proved 
feeble or impotent, he tried both to mend the versification and 
point the irony ; and if a passage was written with more than 
ordinary ability, he was sure to recite it twice, and that too, in 
such a manner, as to produce additional effect, by means of 
appropriate emphasis and intonation. 

Of his equability of temper, another remarkable instance was 
afforded, on a public and memorable occasion. Having differed 
with the whigs, both as to the time and manner of opposing 
Mr. Pitt's administration, and accused their own party of mean- 
ness, corruption, and love of place, he of course became odious 
to them. In 1793, when they and their, adherents had assem- 
bled in large numbers at the London Tavern, for the purpose 
of voting certain resolutions indicative of their opinions, Mr. 
Home Tooke attended the public summons, and on addressing 
liimself to an unwilling audience, craved permission to be heard. 
Finding his opponents disinclined to listen to him, he got upon 
a table, which, in consequence of the zeal of his friends to support 
him, and the earhest desire of his enemies to crowd around, 
and drown his voice with their clamours, soon broke down by 
the pressure of the contending multitude. Less intent on his 



262 



MISCELLANEOUS 



personal preservation, than on the triumph of his opinions, lie 
stood erect; amidst the crash around him, and on descending to 
the ground with a glass full of wine, which he had held steadily 
in his hand during the catastrophe, immediately drank it off, and 
taking advantage of the wonder and surprise of his adversaries, 
commenced and concluded a speech of considerable length, 
with exactly the same ease as if notliing had occurred. 

It has already been observed, that he was once termed, in 
reproach, ' the lack-laughter parson ;" and the same observation 
has been made of Pericles, more than two thousand years ago, 
in whom it was accounted a perfection, that he but rarely 
relaxed his features beyond a smile. He possessed another 
property of that great Athenian, which it is more difficult to 
defend ; for like him, he was not unfrequently supercilious in 
conversation, and sometimes both in liis writings and his dis- 
course exhibited a considerable degree of contempt for the 
opinions of other men. 

His temperament, too, was naturally choleric, and his blood 
was not exactly composed of ' snow broth ;' but this very cir- 
cumstance constituted his chief merit, for he had learned to 
govern his passions, and at length succeeded to such a degree, 
as either to affect or possess such a portion of equanimity, in 
ordinaiy occasions, as would have done credit to the stoics of 
old. 

Mr. Holcroft, who, towards the latter part of his life, is said 
to have experienced many crosses, vexations, and disappoint- 
ments, happening to be one day at Wimbledon, found himself 
suddenly assailed by his host, who seemed disposed to empty 
the whole quiver of his ridicule on the head of the unfortunate 
guest. Irritated beyond endurance at this conduct, the latter 
got up, and clenching his fist, exclaimed, in a paroxysm of rage, 
* I am sorry, sir, to say to a gentleman in his own house, what I 
now tell you, that you are the greatest rascal in the world." 
Mr. Home Tooke, who by this time began to recollect himself, 
thinking that he had carried the joke too far, and imagining, at 
the same time also, perhaps, that this act of vengeance was a 
legitimate return for his recent conduct ; without altering a 
single muscle of his face, turned round, and calmly addressing- 



ARTICLES. 



263 



his acquaintance, said, 'Is it Friday or Saturday next, that I 
am to dine with you ? 

' Saturday, sir.' 

* Then you may depend on it, that I shall be there at the 
liour appointed !' 

I remarked in his back-parlour, the caricature of himself in 
the character of the Old Man of the Mountain, carrying Sinbad 
(Sir Francis Burdett) on his back to destruction. 

A person who had written for years against him in a certain 
newspaper, at last felt, or affected to feel, a full conviction of 
the injustice he had committed, and actually repaired to 
Wimbledon for the express purpose of making the amende 
hcmorahle : but he was coolly received by the philologist, who 
observed, 'that he possessed no spleen whatever against him, 
and he was welcome to proceed exactly as before, if it could be 
of any service to his interests.' 

He thought, perhaps, with a great orator of antiquity, " that 
groundless opinions are destroyed, and rational judgments con- 
firmed by time."* 

Mr. Home said himself upon the hustings, when canvassing 
for votes for a seat in parliament, " 1* beg only to assure you, that 
no man alive feels the insults of enemies less, or the kindness of 
friends more." 



REMARKS ON THE 

LETTER TO THE DUKE OF BEDFORD. 

The coincidence of circumstances attending this case are as 
remarkable as those connected with the letter of Junius to lord 
Mansfield before noticed. Such a concatenation of events 
could not be the effect of chance. 



* Opinionum commenta delet dies, Naturae judicia confirmat. — Vic, de M(! 
Dear. 1. ii. 



264 HISCELLANEOL'S 

On the fourth of Sept. 1769, Mr. Home, with many others^ 
was proposed to be made a freeman of the borough of Bedford. 
Upon which occasion, the duke of Bedford was pleased to 
express himself with great indignity towards Mr. Home in par- 
ticular ; a detailed account of which will appear in the course 
of these remarks. 

Eleven days after this occurrence, Junius transmits a note to 
Mr. Woodfall. announcing a letter to the duke of Bedford as 
follows : 

[Private.] Friday night, Sept. 15, 1768, 

" Sir, — I BEG you will to-morrow advertise Junius to another 
duke in our next. If Monday's paper be engaged, then let it be 
for Tuesday, but not advertised till Monday. You shall have 
it sometime to-morrow night. It cannot be corrected and copied 
sooner. I mean to make it worth printing. Yours, C." 

The letter to the duke was published Sept. 19. On the 5th 
of Oct. Junius writes to Mr. Woodfall as follows : 

" As to you, it is clearly my opinion, that you have nothing 
to fear from the duke of Bedford. I reserve some things 
expressly to awe him, in case he should think of bringing you 
before the house of lords. — I am sure I can threaten him privately 
with such a storm, as would make him tremble even in his 
grave." 

Were there no other test to prove the identity of Junius than 
the evidence exhibited in the single letter to the duke of Bedford, 
it would to my mind be amply sufficient. There was no political 
or public cause whatever for this vindictive attack. It arose 
wholly from a personal insult offered to the author by the duke. 

The second sentence of the letter, is, " You have nice feelings, 
my lord, if we may judge from your resentments.^^ What resent- 
ments ? None are mentioned as having been exhibited by the 
duke of Bedford in the whole course of the letter, to which Junius 
could with propriety be supposed to allude, except the resent- 
ments shown by the duke towards Mr. Home, at the election 
at Bedford. 

Junius in the commencement of his address gives a pompous 
moral discourse on the character which ought, in Iiis opinion, to 



ARTICLES. 265 

constitute the distinguishing traits of a nobleman of fortune. 
Without advancing direct charges against the duke, he cunningly 
insinuates that he is guilty of the vices which the finished charac- 
ter he describes would avoid. Among the rest, the following : 

" He would not have thought it consistent with liis rank in 
the state, or even with his personal importance, to be the little 
tjTant of a little corporation. He would never have been 
insulted with virtues which he had labored to extinguish ; nor 
suffered the disgrace of a mortifying defeat, which has made 
him ridiculous and contemptible even to the few by whom he 
was not detested." 

To this passage a note is annexed after the word corporation, 
in the author's edition, first pubhshed March 3, 1772. It did 
not appear with the letter when first printed in the Public 
Advertiser in 1769. The transaction was then fresh in the 
minds of the people of Bedford, and such a note might have 
led to suspicion as to the writer. But after the aifair had gone 
on smoothly thus long, and no whispers had been heard that 
Mr. Home was the author, he ventures to give his grace a hint 
of his conduct upon that occasion. I come at this fact by an 
examination of Wheble's edition of 1770, of the letters which 
had then appeared. In which neither this note nor any other 
is attached to the letter addressed to the duke of Bedford. The 
note is as follows : 

" Of Bedford, where the tyrant was held in such contempt 
and detestation, that in order to deliver themselves from him, 
they admitted a great number of strangers to the freedom. To 
make his defeat truly ridiculous, he tried his whole strength 
against Mr. Home, and was beaten upon his own ground*" 
Autlwr. 

A particular explanation of this affair is added to the above 
note in the edition of 1812, prepared by the author. Al- 
though this addition purports to be from the editor, it was, 
undoubtedly written by Junius. Because, it is not probable 

34 



266 MlSCELLANEOLiJ 

that the former would have taken the trouble to examme tiic 
records of the town of Bedford to come at the particulars of a 
transaction, of more than forty-two years standing, which was of 
so little consequence to be known to the public. The additional 
note is as follows : 

" This contest took place Sept. 4th, 1769, on the election of 
mayor, bailiffs, and chamberlains for the borough of Bedford. 
His gi'ace having in vain objected to the making of any new 
freemen, at length prevailed on the corporation to allow some 
of his own particular friends to be put in nomination, when about 
twenty of theiu were made accordingly. The names of the 
freemen proposed to be elected on the popular side of the ques- 
tion, were then read, and were heard with profound silence by 
his grace, till the name of John Home was pronounced, when 
the duke expressed himself wnth great bitterness towai'ds that 
gentleman in particular ; the coiporation however divided upon 
the point, and Mr. Home was elected, there being seventeen 
votes in his favor and eleven against him. The candidates for 
the ofiice of mayor were on the popular side Mr. Cawne, and 
on the part of the duke of Bedford, Mr. Richards, the former 
of whom was elected by 458 votes against 26. The triumph 
over his grace was of course complete," 

The triumph over the dulte was in electing the town officers 
against his wishes. How his defeat was rendered truly ridicu- 
lous, by Mr. Home's being made a freeman of the borough, 
although the duke opposed it, it is difficult to conceive. There 
is a slur attempted to be cast upon Mr. Home in the remark, 
which appears evidently intended to ward off any suspicion that 
might arise of his being the author of the letter. 

In this transaction we find a purse-proud nobleman treating 
with contumely a man probably far his superior in every thing 
that goes to dignify the human character. Men in common 
spheres of life and of common abilities, shopmen, mechanics, 
&,c. w ere, no doubt, admitted upon this occasion to the freedom 
of the borough. But when the name of John Home, a man of 



ARTICLES. 



267 



the first education and talents, a clergyman in regular orders, 
was pronounced, the noble duke raised his crest in defiance. 
His ire probably arose from Mr. Home's having taken an active 
part in politics ; and perhaps, in some cases, against the views 
and wishes of his grace ; and he may have been offended that 
a parson should pretend to know as much upon this subject 
as noble dukes, who make a trade of it. Be this as it may, the 
duke in this instance got hold of the wrong person to be treated 
with disrespect. 

Junius, a little after this affair at Bedford, in letter No. 3G, 
addressed to the duke of Grafton, expresses his sentiments as 
follows : 

" Injuries may be atoned for and forgiven, but insults admit 
of no compensation. They degrade the mind in its own esteem, 
and force it to recover its level by revenge." 

I am inclined to believe that when the author wrote this pas- 
sage, he had the duke of Bedford in his mind ; and, if my view 
of the subject be correct, he has, in the case before us, acted in 
perfect conformity to his principles. For, on the 15th of Sept. 
eleven days after the insult given at Bedford, he had prepared 
a retort which for violence and vmdicative feeling stands un- 
rivalled among his most bitter vituperations. 

It requires only to read this letter with attention to be con- 
vinced that there was no political cause for such a philippic. 
The duke held no office at the time, and therefore no measures 
of the government could be charged to his account. But, in 
default of any present cause of complaint, Junius goes back to 
the treaty of peace with France and Spain negoitated by the 
duke of Bedford in Feb. 1763, more than six years before, and 
insinuates that the duke was bribed to make that treaty — tliat it 
was not as favorable to England as it ought and might have 
been. — By this treaty England obtained all Canada, Florida, 
and Louisiana, enough, in all conscience, to satisfy any reason- 
able subject of Great Britain. The very circumstance of this- 
old treaty being made the ground-work of tliis rodomontade, is" 



•208 MISCELLANEOIS 

a convincing proof that the real cause of attack was different 
from what appears upon the face of the record. 

In addition to the crime of making tliis disadvantageous 
treaty, Junius, it seems, ransacked the town of Bedford for 
anecdotes miUtating against the private character of the duke — 
his domestic affairs are exposed — all the tittle-tattle of his 
neighbors (who no doubt hated him for his pride and arrogance) 
is arrayed against him. That this was the course taken by 
Junius, is evident from a remark in his answer to a vindication 
of the duke of Bedford by Sir William Draper, as follows : 
"Against whom then will his (Sir. W. D's.) honest indignation 
be directed, v/hen I assure him, that this whole Xovfn beheld the 
duke of Bedford's conduct, upon the death of his son, with 
horror and astonishment." There was no doubt much exaggera- 
tion, if not absolute falsehoods in the anecdotes raked up against 
the duke upon this occasion. Among the rest, the story related 
in a note annexed to letter No. 29, which is probably alluded to 
by Junius in his note to Woodfall, Oct. 5th. 

In fact, this letter may with propriety be entitled, much 
ado about nothing. There was no tenable ground to be taken 
in the case ; and be the private motives of Junius ever so plau- 
sible, as a pubhc writer, no justification can be made for it. 
He was more severely handled, and had greater difficulty to 
vindicate himself from the retorts made upon him on this occa- 
sion, than in any other attack seriously made by him. 

Junius, in his hurry to accuse the duke of Bedford, has stated 
a number of false facts, which aire corrected by Mr. Almon 
in his edition of the letters. I shall give a copy of these, as 
they tend to show the character of the letter such as I have 
represented it, — that the charges it contained were made at 
random, and that there was no political cause upon which to 
found the abuse, but that it proceeded from private motives of 
revenge. 

" After outraging the royal dignity (says Junius) with peremp- 
tory conditions, little short of menace and hostility, he would 
never descend to the humility of soliciting an interview with the 



ARTICLES. 2G9 

favorite, and of oftering to recover, at any price, the honor of his 
friendship." 

On the above Junius makes the following note : " At this 
interview, which passed at the house of the late lord Eglintoun, 
lord Bute told the duke that he was determined never to have 
any connection with a man who had so basely betrayed him." 

" Only so much of the above note is correct, (says Mr. Almon) 
as states that there was a meeting at lord Eglintoun's. This 
important fact may be stated very briefly. When the repeal 
of the American stamp-act was in agitation, the court were 
anxious to prevent that measure, and lord Bute was commanded 
to form a party for the purpose. He applied to lord Eglintoun, 
to obtain a meeting, at that nobleman's house, of the duke of 
Bedford, earl Temple, and Mr. Grenville. Lord Temple 
would not go, but the duke of Bedford and Mr. Grenville 
attended. The conference was very short, and no terms of 
reproach were used by any of the parties ; lord Bute heard 
them, and made no reply, but immediately went away. Some 
time afterwards, on Mr. Pitt's mentioning this affair in the house 
of commons, Mr. Grenville did not deny it ; but said, ' the only 
proposition made, or point spoken of, was relative to the best 
means of preventing the intended repeal of the American stamp- 
act : no other subject was introduced.' " 

With regard to the assault committed on the duke, which 
Junius makes so much of, attributing it to a Mr. Heston Hum- 
phrey, as though it was a disgrace to a gentleman to be assaulted 
by a ruffian, Mr. Almon says, " According to the Common's 
journals of the year 1748, it was a Mr. Toll, dancing master at 
Litchfield, who thus insulted the duke of Bedford ; but on 
acknowledging his offence, and making humble submission, he 
received only a trifling sentence in Westminster-hall." 

In the private letters of Junius to Woodfall, the reader will 
observe, that he makes the most particular inquiry in respect 
to the time at which this transaction, so unworthy of notice, 
took place; which appears to have been twenty-one years 



270 MISCELLANEOUS 

before. Was he instigated in this case by a zeal to serve his 
country, or to gratify revenge ? 

Junius states in a note that, " when earl Gower was appointed 
president of the council, the king with his usual sincerity, 
assured him that he had not had one happy moment since the 
duke of Bedford left him." 

Mr. Almon says, " It was of Mr. Grenville that his majesty 
said these words ; which were spoken to lord Suifolk, when 
that nobleman was appointed secretary of state, in the month 
of June, 1771. Lord Suffolk was the particular friend of that 
gentleman, who died in the month of November, 1770 ; and 
these words were spoken to his lordship in condolence for the - 
loss of his friend. They could not be spoken of the duke of 
Bedford ; because his grace had treated his majesty so rudely 
that the king never forgave it." 

From the instances above noticed of erroneous statements, 
it will be readily perceived that little reliance can be placed 
upon declarations made by Junius in this letter. He must have 
been hard pushed for subjects of censure when he abuses the 
duke for incivility to the king ; except he considered it an en- 
croachment upon his own prerogative. 

Mr. Woodfall, in a note at the introduction of the letter to 
the duke of Bedford, makes an incorrect statement, probably 
intended to render the attack upon him more excusable in a 
political point of view, as well as to justify some false allusions 
of Junius himself to the same effect. 

It is as follows : in 1766, it seems, some difficulty occurred 
in forming a ministry, and after several fruitless attempts, it is 
stated that, " Lord Chatham was next applied to, who consented 
to take the lead, provided he was allowed the nomination of 
his own friends into certain offices he should designate ; and 
this being granted, to strengthen his own hands, he re-introduced 
the duke of Bedford, along with his grace of Grafton : — and 
on his own resignation, he left them both in the respective offices 
they filled at the time of the address of the present letter to the 
former of these noblemen." 

On examining Bissett's and Miller's histories of that period, I 
find that the duke was not in the administration, nor held any 



ARTICLliS. 



•n 



otiice at tlie time alluded to. And I also observe that Mr. 
Woodfall, a little after making the assertion, admits a contrary 
statement into his own book ; wliich I shall insert. Mr. Heron 
says expressly, that lord Chatham " sought the friendship of the 
duke of Bedford ; and the duke with his friends were not un- 
willing to serve under him. But the king had not yet pardoned 
the duke's former insolence; and lord Chatham was thus 
hindered from fulfilling the engagements he had privately made 
with the duke." 

I shall now show, by extracts from notes annexed to Wood- 
fall's Junius, that the treaty of peace negotiated by the dulce 
of Bedford, was not only very advantageous to the interests of 
England, but ably and faithfully conducted on his part. 

The following is taken from a note to Miscellaneous Letters, 
No. 53, containing a sketch of the character of Mr. George 
Grenville, and is extracted from the second volmne of Knox's 
extra official state papers. 

'■ While the peace was negotiating, the expedition against 
the Havannah was carrying on, and as the chance of its success 
or failure was not very unequal, the negotiators agreed to leave 
it out in their uti possidetis, considering the event as perfectly 
neutral : so that if after the preliminaries were signed, it was 
found to be taken, it was to be restored without compensation. 
Before the preliminaries were signed, however, the account of 
its capture was received, and Mr. Grenville immediately pro- 
posed that it should now be included in the uti possidetis, and 
compensation for it insisted upon, for as the event was decided 
before the preliminaries were signed, either party was at liberty 
to avail themselves of it. Lord Bute thought the treaty was 
too far advanced to make any advantage of the event being in 
our favor, and he feared that our making any fresh demand, 
would not only protract but break oft' the negotiation, and 
prevent the peace taking place immediately, wliich he thought so 
necessary for the nation. Mr. Grenville was clear in his opinion 
of our right to make the demand, and fiim in insisting that it 
should be made, and proposed two alternatives for consideration. 
The one, that if we judged it best to get the entire possession of 



'21il MISCELLANEOliS 

the continent of North America, France having already agreed 
to cede all Canada, that we should insist upon Florida and 
Louisiana : the other, that if we thought it necessaiy to increase 
our possessions in the West Indies, beyond the three neutral 
islands, which France had also agreed to give us, we should ask 
Porto Rico, and the property of what we held upon the Spanish 
Main ; and he left the earl with declaring that he would resign 
the seals, if one of those alternatives was not adopted and 
insisted upon. After consulting with Mr. Fox and lord Egre- 
mont, lord Bute agreed to make the demand of Florida and 
Louisiana, and instructions to that purpose were immediately 
dispatched to the duke of Bedford, who made so able and 
strenuous an application in consequence of them, that the duke 
de Choiseul not only consented to cede Louisiana, but obliged 
the Spanish minister to cede Florida also, without Sending to 
his court for fresh orders, and the preliminaries were not delayed 
more than a fortnight by the demand and acquisition of that 
immense territory." 

To the following passage in the letter to the duke, Mr. Wood- 
fall subjoins the note here inserted. 

" Your history begins to be important at that auspicious period, 
at which you were deputed to represent the earl of Bute at the 
court of Versailles. It was an honorable office, and executed 
with the same spirit with which it was accepted. Your patrons 
wanted an ambassador, who would submit to make concessions, 
without daring to insist upon any honorable condition for his 
sovereign.* 



* " Soon after the death of the duke of Bedford the followmg paragraph was 
inserted in the PubUc Advertiser, and as it remained uncontradicted, there is some 
reason to beUeve it authentic. As the duke in this letter is arraigned in the mosi 
severe terms for the concessions made hi negotiating the peace of 1763, it is but 
justice to his grace, that a circumstance so honorable should be more geacrallj- 
known. The paragraph runs thus : 

" The following anecdote of the late duke of Bedford may be depended upon 
as fact : When his grace negotiated the late peace at Paris, he signed tho 



ARTICLES. 273 

Mr. Woodfall, after taking notice of two letters written in 
defence of the duke of Bedford, observes ; 

" A much abler reply to Junius's severe attack upon his grace 
was afterwards introduced into the Public Advertiser in a letter 
to Junius subscribed M. TuUius, dated Dec. 8. from which the 
editor feels bound, on the score of impartiality, to make the 
following extract : 

" In these strictures I have principally in view the treatment 
which Junius, in two publications, has thought proper to offer to 
the duke of Bedford. His animadversions on this nobleman, 
are intended to reflect both on his public and private character. 
With regard to the first of these, nothing of consequence is 
urged besides his grace's conduct as ambassador at the court of 
Versailles in the making of the late peace. I mean not to enter 



preliminaries with the French minister Choiseul, and stipulated no farther for 
the possessions of the East India Company than he was advised to stipulate by 
the court of directors. A gentleman (a Dutch Jew of great abilities and char- 
acter) hearing this, wrote a letter to the duke of Bedford informing him that the 
Enghsh East India Company had materially neglected their own interest, as their 
chief conquests were made subsequent to the period at which they had fixed 
their claim of sovereignty ; and if these latter conquests were to be restored, an 
immense annual revenue would necessarily be taken from England. The duke, 
struck with the force of the fact, yet embarrassed how to act, as prehminaries 
were really signed, repaired to Choiseul at Versailles, and addressed him thus : 
— * My lord, I have committed a great mistake in signing the preliminaries, as 
the affair of thn India possessions must be carried down to our last conquest in 
Asia.' To this Choiseul replied, ' Your grace astonishes me ; I thought I had 
been treating with the minister of a great nation, and not with a student in 
politics, who does not consider the vahdity of written engagements.' ' Your 
reproach, my lord, is just,' returned the duke, * but I will not add treachery to 
neghgence, nor betray my country deliberately, because I have overlooked her 
interest unaccountably in a single circumstance ; therefore, unless your lordship 
agrees to cede the latter conquests in India, I shall return home in twelve hours, 
and submit the fate of my head to the discretion of an English parliament.' 
Choiseul, staggered at the diilce's intrepidity, complied ; and this country now 
enjoys above half a million annually through the firmness of a man, whom it is 
even patriotism at present to calumniate, but whose virtues have never yet 
received justice from the community. On tlie termination of the affair to his 
satisfaction, he gave his informant, the Dutch gentleman, the warmest recom- 
mendations to England, who accordingly came over, and receives at this moment 
a pension of 500?. a vear from the India Company as a reward for his sen'ircs." 

35 



'274 MISCELLAN-BOUS 

here into the merits or demerits of that important transaction, 
— Thus much is known to all, the riches of the nation were at 
that time well nigh exhausted, public credit was on the brink of 
ruin, the national debt increased to such an enormous height as 
to threaten us with a sudden and universal crush ; and whatever 
be said of the concessions that were made to bring that memo- 
rable event to bear, Canada among other instances, will ever 
remain a glorious monument ; the interests of this kingdom were 
not forgotten in that negotiation. But Junius, hackneyed in the 
tricks of controversy, where a man's open and avowed actions 
are innocent, has the art to hint at secret terms and private 
compensations ; and though he is compelled by the force of 
truth to own ' no document of any treasonable practice is to be 
found,' we are given plainly to understand so many public sacri- 
fices were not made at that period without a valuable considera- 
tion, and that in practice there is very little difference in the 
ceremony of offering a bribe, and of that duke's accepting it. 
To a charge that is alleged, not only without proof, but even 
with a confession that no proof is to be expected, no answer is 
to be returned but that of a contemptuous silence. When a 
writer takes upon him to attack the character of a nobleman 
of the highest rank, and in a matter of so capital a nature as 
that of selling his country for a bribe, common policy, as well 
as prudence, require that an accusation of such importance be 
supported with at least some show of evidence, and that even 
this be not done but with the utmost moderation of temper and 
expression : but so sober a conduct would have been beside the 
purpose of Junius, whose business it was not to reason, but to 
rail. The Roman rhetorician, among the other arts of oratory, 
mentions one, which he dignifies with the title of a ' Canine 
eloquence,' that of filling up the empty places of an argument 
with railings, cotwitiis implere vacua causarwn. In the know- 
ledge of this rule Junius is without a rival ; and the present 
instance, among a thousand others, is a convincing testimony of 
his dexterity in the application of it. 

" But here it will be said, it is not from circumstance and 
conjecture alone that this charge against the duke of Bedford 
is founded : the general character of every one takes its color 



ARTICLES. '275 

and complexion from that quality in him which predominates, 
and the allowed avarice of the man affords an evidence not to 
be resisted of the rapacity of the ambassador : and is it then so 
incontestable a point that the duke is indeed tne sordid man 
which Junius has delineated ? are there no instances to be pro- 
duced that denote a contrary disposition ? one would think if a 
vicious thirst of gain had borne so large a share, as is pretended 
in his grace's composition, this would have discovered itself in 
the pecuniary emoluments he had secured for himself when he 
engaged in a share of government. But what advantages of 
this kind has he obtained ; or to what bargains with the minister 
does Junius allude, when he knows, that his grace, though willing 
to assist the friends of administration with liis interest and weight, 
has not accepted any department either of power or profit ? 
had Jmiius and candor not shaken hands, this circumstance alone 
would have afforded him an evidence beyond all the legal proofs 
of a court of justice, of the iniquity of his own insinuations.* 
But we are not at a loss for other instances, and those no ordi- 
nary ones, of the duke's munificence. To what principle shall 
we attribute the payment of his elder brother's debts to the 
amount of not much less than one hundred thousand pounds ? 
the splendid provision he made for his unfortunate son ; and 
afterwards for that son's more unfortunate widow ? what shall 
we say to his known attachments to the interests of his friends, 
his kindness to his domestics, and annual bounty to those who 
have served him faithfully ? his indulgence to his dependants ? 
or what are, if these be not, equivocal proofs of genuine liberality 
and benevolence ?" 

Before adverting to the correspondence of Junius and 
Home, I will show that the language and opinions maintained 
in both characters in respect to Wilkes throughout his career 
as a political champion, were uniformly the same. 



* Junius, when it would answer his purpose, restricted himself to insinuations ; 
but Mr. Woodfall, less cautious, makes a positive assertion contrary to what is 
here declared to be the fact. For the sake of consistency, he ought either to 
have corrected the error, or denied the truth of the statement here made and 
published by himself. 



'J 7 6 MISCELLANEOUS 

On the supposition of Home's being Junius, some may 
perhaps conceive that there is an apparent inconsistency ol 
conduct irreconcilable with those principles of honor and 
morality which his friends claim for him. But when the real 
character of Wilkes is taken into consideration — that, as an 
unprincipled demagogue, he might do much mischief if not 
restrained — and that, although he might be made use of as an 
instrument to oppose the government, it was necessary to check 
his unbounded ambition, and prevent his obtaining an undue 
influence. 

Besides, the same objection would hold against any other 
person, as Junius, as well as against Home. Junius supported 
Wilkes as far as his cause was connected with the public inter- 
est, and no farther, and Home did the same. Which ever way 
the question is viewed, it ultimately turns upon the same pivot. 

That Mr. Home was pre-eminently vindictive towards those 
who had done him a personal injury, as well as towards his 
political adversaries, will not be denied : Nemo me lascessit 
impune, was the proper armorial for liis escutcheon. He had 
reason to despise and hate Mr. Wilkesfor histreacheryin exposing 
his private letter, which did him an irreparable injury ; and he 
was determined on revenge. The dishonorable conduct of 
Wilkes in respect to the Middlesex election moreover added to 
his disgust. In conversation with him on this subject, he said, 
" It is you who treat me ill. I am not duped, sir ; and I desire 
I may at least have the honor of doing what I do with my eyes 
open. The die is cast : if I had not thought that all was at 
stake, on the success of your election, I should not have come 
forward at all ; and having once begun it, nothing shall stop me!' 

Having fulfilled his object, a good opportunity presented to 
lash both the administration and Wilkes, which was not neglected. 
After this, we hear no more of Home's support of Wilkes at 
future elections. 

When pushing forward Wilkes upon this occasion, he must 
have felt towards him very much as lago did towards Roderigo : 

" Now, whether he kill Cassio, 
Or Cassio him, or each do kill the othei-, 
Every wav makes mv sain." 



ARTICLES. iilT 

That is, as applied to Home, operates for the benetit of the 
pubhc cause. 

The description of the Middlesex election given in the two 
following letters, was evidently written by a spectator, " a part 
of which he was and all of which he saw," As to the little slur 
thrown out against those who had supported Wilkes, it was in 
character of Junius, and necessary to ward off suspicion from 
the author. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

5 April, 1768. 
Vivit ? imo vero etiam in senatum venit : fit publici consilii paiticeps : notat, et 
limis designat oculis ad caedem unumqueraque nostrum.* 

" Sir, — The return of Mr. Wilkes to England, and the 
measures he has since pursued, have given the servants of the 
crown an opportunity of acting in a manner so becoming them- 
selves, that it would be ingratitude not to take notice of their 
extraordinary merits upon this occasion. Our gracious sovereign 
undoubtedly thinks himself highly indebted to his ministers for 
their uncommon care of his honor and dignity, as well as for 
their attention to the security of his house, family, and sacred 
person ; and I may venture to assure them that the public in 
general have a just sense of the vigor and spirit with which they 
have administered the laws, and with which the peaceable part 
of his Majesty's subjects have been protected. What sort of 
thanks they will receive from their sovereign, I cannot tell, but, 
as far as my weak endeavors can reach, the nation shall not 
remain unapprised of the extent and species of our obligations 
to them. 

A man of a most infamous character in private life is indicted 
for a libel against the king's person, solemnly tried by his peers 
according to the laws of the land, and found guilty.f To avoid 



* Does he live ? more, he even comes into the senate : he participates in the 
public councils : notes, and designates with maUgnant eye each one of us to 
slaughter. 

t Here Mr. Woodfall endeavors, in a note, to reconcile the conduct of Junius 
in this case, but evidently under great embarrassment. The amount of what lie 



^78 MISCELLANEOUS 

the sentence due to his crime, he flies to a foreign country, and ' 
failing to surrender himself to justice, is outlawed. By this out- 
lawry he loses all claim to the protection of those magistrates, 
and of those laws, to which, by his evasion, he had refused to be 
amenable. After some years spent abroad, this man returns to 
England with as little fear of the laws, which he had violated, 
as of respect for the great person whom he had wantonly and 
treasonably attacked. Without a single qualification either 
moral or political, and under the greatest disability, this man 
presumes so far upon the protection of the populace, as to offer 
himself a candidate to represent the metropolis of the kingdom. 
Disappointed in this attempt, notwithstanding all the efforts and 
violence of the rabble, he has still the confidence to offer him- 
self to the freeholders of Middlesex as a proper person to 
represent a county, in which he has not a single foot oi" land ;* 
and to complete the whole, we see a man overwhelmed with 
debts, a convict and an outlaw, returned to serve in the British 
parUament as knight of a shire. These, sir, are the main facts 
of Mr. Wilkes's case. The circumstances with which they were 
attended are no less atrocious. We saw the other candidates, 
gentlemen of large fortune, and of the most respectable char- 
acters, dragged from their carriages, and hardly escaping with 
life out of the hands of Mr. Wilkes's friends and companions.! 



says, is, tliat " In the present instance, Wilkes is only adverted to as an instru- 
ment of attack upon an administration wliich Junms abominated." But that he 
afterwards " found that he could support this attack better by enlisting gentlemen 
in his favor that in oppoation to him." Mr. W^oodfall must have calculated on 
easy, good natured readers, who would take, on trust, every thing he might choose 
to palm upon them. — ^m. Ed. 

* Mr. Home, as a resident of that county, had good opportunity to know this 
fact. 

I At a subsequent election, in 1769, Mr. Luttrell, afterwards lord Irnham, 
became a candidate for the county of Middlesex, in opposition to Mr. Wilkes. 
"On this occasion," (says Stephens, in his Memoirs of Mr. Horne) "aUhoughhe 
only polled 296 freeholders in opposition to 1143, on the part of the popular 
candidate, yet the house of commons negatived the return of the sheriffs ; and by 
a new vote, April 14, not only resolved as before, ' that the election of John 
Wilkes, esq. was void,' but added, 'that the honorable Henry Lewes Luttrell, 



AWnCLES. 



379 



If the candidates were treated in this manner, you may imagine 
what sort of reception their friends met with in attempting to 
poll for them. The fact is, that great numbers were driven 
back by main force, or deterred by the threats of the populace ; 
so that not a third part of the friends of sir William Proctor and 
Mr. Cooke were ever permitted to approach the hustings. The 
conclusion of Monday and Tuesday night was perfectly con- 
sistent with the whole proceedings of the day. I need not 
enlarge upon this detestable scene, since there is hardly a family 
in London or Westminster which has not had reason to remem- 
ber the day of Mr. Wilkes's election. The metropohs of the 
kingdom, the seat of justice, and the residence of the sovereign, 
and of the royal family, was left, for two nights together, at the 
mercy of a licentious, drunken rabble, without the smallest guard, 
either civil or military, to secure the king's person, or to protect 
his subjects. Amidst all the horror and outrage of these trans- 
actions, is there one Englishman endowed with the smallest 
portion of reason or humanity, who can hear without grief and 
resentment, that even in some of the royal palaces, to avoid 
worse consequences, illuminations were made to celebrate the 

success of a , who, after heaping every possible insult on 

the person of his sovereign, returns in triumph to brave and 
outrage him again, even in the palace of his immediate residence! 
Such was the scene, of which all the inhabitants of London 
and Westminster were witnesses to their cost. Let us now 
inquire what has been the conduct of the ministry during the 
course of it. Long before Mr. Wilkes appeared at Guildhall, 
it was well known that he was in London ; and if any measures 



ought to have been returned, and now is duly elected a knight of the shire for the 
county of Middlesex.' 

" On this, the mob became furious against Mr. Luttrell, and had it not been for 
the personal interposition of Mr. Home, that gentleman would have fallen a 
victim to their resentment ; for it was he who rescued him from their clutches, 
and conducted him to a place of safety. This generous conduct must stirely be 
allowed to have been worthy of applause ; but such is the deadly enmity of 
political contests, that it rendered liini, ever after, suspected by many of 
that party, and on a future occasion, was frequently quoted against him, as an 
indelible ©ffence." — dm, Ed. 



*J80 MISCELLANEOUS 

had been taken by the ministry to secure him in consequence 
of his outlawry, it might undoubtedly have been done with the 
greatest facility. Why no process was sued for out of the Court 
of King's Bench, let the ministers answer if they can. But they 
have much more to answer for. They are responsible for all 
the consequences of permitting this outlaw to appear at large, 
and for all the violences of which he has since been the author. 
By their indolence and neglect, or perhaps in consequence 
of a secret compact with him, this man has been suffered to 
throw the metropolis into a flame, to offer new outrages to his 
sovereign, and at last to force his way into parliament, where, if 
he were a man of any parliamentary abilities, I doubt not but 
he would reward them as they deserve. In the midst of all 
thistumultandconfusion,thechancellorof Great Britain* and the 
first lord of the treasury f retire out of town, and leave the whole 
executive power of the crown to fall to the ground. In the 
name of God and the laws, are such men fit to govern a great 
Idngdom ? To say that they are, is an insult to the common 
understanding of mankind, and I hope our gracious sovereign 
will do justice to himself and to his people, by depriving them 
of a power, which they have either not courage or not honesty 
enough to exert in his service. lam persuaded there is not a 
man of property, sense, or honor in this country, who is not 
ready, heart and hand, to support the constitution, and to defend 
the sovereign, though his own immediate servants have deserted 
him. We have hitherto taken no steps for oui' defence, because 
we expected the protection of government ; but we are still 
strong enough to defend our lives and properties against Mr. 
Wilkes and his banditti, nor shall the treacherous example set 
us by the ministry ever induce us to abandon our own rights, or 
those of the chief magistrate. C." J 



* Lord Camden. t The duke of Grafton. 

i The editor has ah-eady had occasion to observe in various places that C. was 
the signature adopted by Junius in his private correspondence with the Printer 
r>\ the Public Advertiser. 



ARTICLKS. "<J8i 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

5 April, 1768. 

" Sii', — There is something so extraordinary in the conduct 
of the ministry, with respect to Mr. Wilkes, that I cannot help 
suspecting that they have a secret motive for it, v^rhich the public 
is not aware of. It is to me inconceivable that he should have 
been suffered to return to England, and remain at large, not- 
withstanding this outlawry ; — to offer himself a candidate for 
the metropolis ; — to appear the leader of violence and riot 
uncontrolled ; — and at last to succeed in his enterprise at 
Brentford ; unless all this had been done with the connivance 
and consent of the king's servants. My suspicions may perhaps 
be ill founded, but I think there is reason enough to apprehend 
that Mr. Wilkes would never have been permitted to go such 
lengths, if all were well between the ministry and the earl of 
Bute. They certainly have a design to terrify the Scotchman, 
and to keep him in order, by producing their tribune once more 
upon the stage. Let the Thane look to himself ! Mr. Wilkes 
being a man of no sort of consequence in his own person, can 
never be supported but by keeping up the cry, and this cry can 
no way be maintained but by renewing his attacks upon the 
Scotch favorite and his countrymen. With this key we may^ 
perhaps, account for the supineness and indifference with which 
the ministry have seen the laws trampled on, and the public 
peace and tranquillity destroyed, by the respectable Mr. Wilkes. 
and his no less respectable friends. Yours, 

Q IN THE CORNER.' 

Extract of a Letter addressed to the duke of Grafton. 

April 10, 1769. 
" I have frequently censured Mr. Wilkes's conduct, yet your 
advocate reproaches me with having devoted myself to the 
service of sedition. Your grace can best inform us for which 
of Mr. Wilkes's good qualities you first honored him with your 
friendship, or how long it was before you discovered those bad 
ones in him, at which, it seems, your delicacy was ofTended- 

36 



^IS'Z JJUSeELLANEOLS 

Remember, my lord, that you continued your connexion with 
Mr. Wilkes, long after he had been convicted of those crimes 
which you have since taken pains to represent in the blackest 
colors of blasphemy and treason. 

But let Mr. Wilkes's character be what it may, this, at least 
is certain ; that circumstanced as he is, with regard to the public,, 
even his vices plead for him. The people of England have too 
much discernment to suffer your grace to take advantage of the 
failings of a private character, to establish a precedent by which 
the public liberty is affected, and which you may hereafter, with 
equal ease and satisfaction, employ to the ruin of the best men in 
the kingdom. Content yourself, my lord, with the many 
advantages which the unsullied purity of your own character 
has given you over your unhappy deserted friend. Avail your- 
self of all the unforgiving piety of the court you live in, and bless 
God that ' you are not as other men are ; extortioners, unjust, 
adulterers, or even as tliis publican.' In a heart void of feeling, 
the laws of honor and good faith may be violated with impunity, 
and there you may safely indulge your genius. But the laws of 
England shall not be violated, even by your holy zeal to oppress 
a sinner ;* and though you have succeeded in making him a tool, 
you shall not make him the victim of your ambition. 

JUNIUS.'-'t 

Extract of a Letter to the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

April 12, 1769. 

"'Mr. Woodfall,^ — The monody on the supposed death of 
Junius is not the less poetical for being founded on a fiction. In 
some parts of it there is a promise of genius which deserves 



* Upon this passage, Mr. Heron remarks, " This is one of those occasions, of 
too frequent recurrence, on which Junius discovers his acquaintance with the 
bible, and his want of reverence for it." Let it be remembered that Mr. Home 
studied the bible professionally, and therefore must be supposed to be well 
acquainted with it. This circumstance, by the way, is not unworthy of con- 
sideration. 

j Wilkes, when he read this defence of himself by his friend Junius, must have 
exclaimed, the Lord dehver me from my friends ! 



ARTICLES. 



283 



to be encouraged.* My letter of Monday f will, I hope, con- 
vince the author that I am neither a partizan of Mr. Wilkes, nor 
yet bought off by the ministry. It is true I have refused offers, 
which a more prudent or a more interested man would have 
accepted. J Whether it be simplicity or virtue in me I can only 
affirm that I am in earnest ; because I am convinced, as far as 
my understanding is capable of judging, that the present ministry 
are driving this country to destruction ; and you, I think, sir, 
may be satisfied that my rank and fortune place me above a 
common bribe. JUNHTS." 

Extract of a Letter to the duke of Grafton. 

April 24, 1769. 
" My lord, — The system you seemed to have adopted, when 
lord Chatham unexpectedly left you at the head of affairs, gave 
us no promise of that uncommon exertion of vigor, which has 



♦ This monody is inserted in a note by Woodfall, and is a severe satire upon 
Junius. The manner he speaks of it agrees exactly with the representation 
given by Stephens of the treatment shown by Home to similar productions aimed 
at himself. 

t Dated April 10. From which the foregoing extract is taken. 

X Mr. Home " was promised (says Stephens) to be appointed one of the king's 
chaplains, and had a prospect of such other preferment as was sufficient to satisfy 
his wishes. In fine, a man so gifted and so favored might have aspired to all the 
honors of his profession ; he might have enjoyed wealth and respect, and that 
learned ease so dear to a man of letters. — It was in vain that his brother-in-law 
(Dr. Demainbray) remonstrated against his imprudent conduct, and that all his 
friends whispered in his ear, that he was about to put an eternal bar to his future 
preferment." 

Mr. Home, in addressing the court on his trial, in 1777, for an alleged libel 
against the government, said, " He (the Attorney-general) has talked to your 
lordships of my patrons. I have had in my life, and early in my life, the greatest 
of patrons ; ay, with all their power, greater than any that now hear me. I 
renounced my patrons, because I would not renounce my principles ; repeatedly, 
over and over again, of different descriptions and in different situations." 

" If popularity would offer itself to me, I would speedily take care to kick it 
away. As for ambition, and bodies of men, and parties, and societies, there is 
nothing of it in the case. There is no body of men with whom I can think, that 
1 know of. There is no body of men with whom I am connected. Private 
friendships I have, like other men, but they are very few ; however, that Is recom- 
pense to me, for they are very worthy." 



284 MISCELLANEOUS 

since illustrated your character, and distinguished your adminis- 
tration. Far from discovering a spirit bold enough to invade 
the first rights of the people, and the first principles of the con- 
stitution, you were scrupulous of exercising even those pow^ers, 
with which the executive branch of the legislature is legally 
invested. We have not yet forgotten how long Mr. Wilkes was 
suffered to appear at large, nor how long he was at liberty to 
canvass for the city* and county, with all the terrors of an out- 
lawry hanging over him. Our gracious sovereign has not yet 
forgotten the extraordinary care you took of his dignity and of 
the safety of his person, when, at a crisis which courtiers 
affected to call alarming, you left the metropolis exposed for 
two nights together, to every species of riot and disorder. 

JUNIUS.' 

Extract from Junius's Letter to the King. 

Dec. 19, 1769. 

" You have still an honorable part to act. The affections of 
your subjects may still be recovered. But before you subdue 
their hearts, you must gain a noble victory over your own. 
Discard those little personal resentments, which have too long 
directed your public conduct. Pardon this manf the remainder 
of his punishment ; and, if resentment still prevails, make it, 
what it should have been long since, an act, not of mercy, but 
of contempt. He vnll soon fall back into his natural station ; a 
silent senator, and hardly supporting the weekly eloquence of a 
newspaper. The gentle breath of peace would leave him on 
the surface, neglected and unremoved. It is only the tempest 
that lifts him from his place."' 



* Prior to his offering himself for the county of Middlesex, Wilkes had become 
a candidate for the metropolis, and it was in consequence of his failure in the 
city, that he pressed forward to the country. The populace, in both cases, were 
so numerously and so violently attached to him, that many serious riots were the 
consequence — and so outrageous were they in two or three instances, that the 
court party strenuously asserted that the city and even the palace itself were not 
free from danger. — Ed. 

f Wilkes. 



ahticijEs. 285 

DISPUTE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
OF JUNIUS AND MR. HORNE. 



1 SHALL now make a few extracts from the famous dispute 
and correspondence of Junius and Mr. Home, and add such 
reflections as appear to my mind to be applicable to the case. 

Junius makes the attack, in a letter to the duke of Grafton, 
as follows : 

July 9, 1771. 

•'Your grace's re-appointment to a seat in the cabinet was 
announced to the public by the ominous return of lord Bute to 
this country.* When that noxious planet approaches England, 
he never fails to bring plague and pestilence along with him. 
The king already feels the malignant effect of your influence 
over his councils. Your former administration made Mr. 
Wilkes an alderman of London and representative of Middle- 
sex. Your next appearance in office is marked with his election 
to the shrievalty. In whatever measure you are concerned, 
you are not only disappointed of success, but always contrive 
to make the government of the best of princes contemptible in 
his own eyes, and ridiculous to the whole world. Making all 
due allowance for the effect of the minister's declared interpo- 
sition, Mr. Robinson's activity, and Mr. Home's new zeal in 
support of administration, we still want the genius of the duke 
of Grafton to account for committing the whole interest of 
government in the city to the conduct of Mr. Harley." 

"The unfortunate success of the reverend Mr. Home's 
endeavours in support of the ministerial nomination of sheriffs, 
will, I fear, obstruct liis preferment. Permit me to recommend 
him to your grace's protection." 

In this sham attack upon Home, Junius very civilly gives a 
back-handed cut at his friend Wilkes. 

* From the continent. — Ed. 



386 MISCELLANEOUS 

The weakness and futility of the charge brought against 
Home of supporting the existing administration at that time, 
shows that it was intended for no other purpose than to give 
him an opportunity to refute it. Wilkes himself had not the 
folly to pretend to any such thing. It was well known that 
Plumbe and Kirkman were the government candidates for the 
shrievalty ; and that Oliver was supported by Home, Townsend, 
Sawbridge and others the most respectable of the whig party, 
in opposition to Wilkes and his colleague Bull. The whig party 
was divided. We understand this matter very well in New- 
York. 

Home had long before given up any expectation of prefer- 
ment in the church ; his letter to Wilkes had settled that busi- 
ness. As to being afterwards likened to a monk, the whole 
tenor of his life was in such direct opposition to that character 
as to render the allegation of no effect. 

Home to Junius. 

July 13,1771. 
" You charge me with ' a new zeal in support of administra- 
tion,' and with ' endeavors in support of the ministerial 
nomination of sheriffs.' The reputation which your talents 
have deservedly gained to the signature of Junius, draws from 
me a reply, which I disdained to give to the anonymous lies of 
Mr. Wilkes. You make frequent use of the word Gentleman ; 
I only call myself a Man, and desire no other distinction ; if 
you are either, you are bound to make good your charges, or to 
confess that you have done me a hasty injustice upon no au- 
thority." 

This affected manner of setting up an opponent is ridiculous. 
Home had before answered both the anonymous and personal 
lies of Mr. Wilkes ; and as Wilkes would write no more, he 
awkwardly drags Junius into the controversy. With respect 
to the word gentleman, used by Junius, Mr. Heron makes the 
following remarks. 

" Junius used the title of s&ntleman with affectation : and it 



ARTICLES. i487 

IS affectedly, that Mr. Home here arrogates the emphatic appella- 
tion of a man. 

" The word man, as here used by Home, means precisely 
the same thing as gentleman in the sense in which it was em- 
ployed by Junius. Home meant by it, a person possessing the 
common sense, the common honesty, and the kind affections 
expressing themselves in gentleness and benignity, which are 
esteemed the only worthy characteristics of human nature, 
neither excessively debased, nor exceedingly exalted above its 
middle rate of excellence. 

" What Home here says of man and gentleman, is, therefore, 
merely idle and impertinent cavil." 

Mr. Heron did not perceive that the whole correspondence 
was " merely idle and impertinent cavil." 

" You have every advantage, and I have every disadvantage : 
you are unknown ; I give my name. All parties, both in and 
out of administration, have their reasons (which I shall relate 
hereafter) for uniting in their wishes against me : and the popular 
prejudice is as strongly in i/our favor as it is violent against the 
parson* 

" Singular as my present situation is, it is neither painful, nor 
was it unforeseen. He is not fit for pubhc business, who does 
not, even at his entrance, prepare his mind for such an event. 
Health, fortune, tranquillity, and private connexions, I have 
sacrificed upon the altar of the public ; and the only return I 
received, because I will not concur to dupe and mislead a sense- 
less multitude, is barely, that they have not yet torn me in pieces." 

The sympathy existing in the minds of these two gentlemen, 
Junius and Home, is amazing. A little before Home wrote the 
above, viz. April 22, 1771, Junius addressed the printer of the 
Public Advertiser as follows : 



* That is, Home, as Junius, was highly respected, but, as parson Home, was 
1 great disrepute. 



•288 MISCELLANEOUS 

« Sii'j — To write for profit, without taxing the press ; to write 
tor fame, and to be unknown ; to support the intrigues of faction, 
and to be disowned as a dangerous auxiliary by every party in 
the kingdom, are contradictions which the minister must recon- 
cile before I forfeit my credit with the pubhc. I may quit the 
service, but it would be absurd to suspect me of desertion. The 
reputation of these papers is an honorable pledge for my attach- 
ment to the people. To sacrifice a respected character, and to 
renounce the esteem of society, requires more than Mr. Wed- 
derburne's resolution. But, in truth, sir, I have left no room for 
an accommodation with the piety of St. James's. My offences 
are not to be redeemed by recantation or repentance. On one 
side, our warmest patriots* would disclaim me as a burthen to 
their honest ambition. On the other, the vilest prostitution, if 
Junius could descend to it, would lose its natural merit and in- 
fluence in the cabinet, and treachery be no longer a recommen- 
dation to the royal favor." 

How had Junius, an anonymous writer, sacrificed a respectable 
character ? He is not known to this day, and therefore had 
sacrificed no character as Junius. But by substituting the proper 
name, Home, the mystery is explained. 

A short time after the date of the above letter of Home to 
Junius, viz. Sep. 7, 1771, the latter, in a letter to Wilkes, thus 
expresses himself: 

" A man who honestly engages in a public cause, must pre- 
pare himself for events which will at once demand his utmost 
patience, and rouse his warmest indignation. I feel myself, at 
this moment, in the very situation I describe ; yet from the 
common enemy I expect nothing but hostilities against the people. 
It is the conduct of our friends that surprises and afflicts me." 

Junius to Home. 

July 24, 1771. 
Sir, — 1 cannot descend to an altercation with you in the 

* The Wilkite?. 



ARTICLESi 



^89 



fiewspapers : but since I have attacked your character, and you 
complain of injustice, I think you have some right to an expla- 
nation." 

The consummate duplicity of this single passage is sufficient 
to prove the whole correspondence a sheer hoax. Junius con- 
tended in the newspapers with every body that came in his way. 
either personally or anonymously, and objects to an altercation 
in like manner with a man of the first talents in Great Britain, 
who had done more in support of correct political principles 
than any man in it. 

" Neither do I pretend to any intelligence concerning you, or 
to know more of your conduct than you yourself have thought 
proper to communicate to the public. It is from your own 
letters, I conclude, that you have sold yourself to the ministry." 

The pretended ignorance of Junius of so distinguished a 
chai'acter as John Home, is on a par with his denial of a per- 
sonal knowledge of George Grenville. The extravagance of 
which in both cases is calculated to defeat the object intended. 
The letters alluded to, Mr. Woodfall says, were those written 
by Mr. Home in the dispute with Mr. Wilkes. Is there any 
thing in those letters tending to show what is here alleged ? 

" I can make allowances for the violence of the passions ; and 
if ever I sljould be convinced that you had no motive but to 
destroy Wilkes, I shall then be ready to do justice to your 
character, and to declare to the world, that I despise you some- 
what less than I do at present." 

This was exactly what Mr. Home wished an opportunity 
more fully to show, and the very object for which this corres- 
pondence was commenced. 

Junius adds, " But as a public man, I must for ever condemn 
you." The impolicy of Mr. Home's exposure of the character 
and conduct of Wilkes had been, it appears, before noticed by 
others, and Mr. Home seemed anxious to show that it was 
important for the public to know his real character. He says 
in one of his letters to Mr. Wilkes, " I have been asked by 
some well meaning men, why I will suffer any private pique or 
quarrel between us to come before the public and injure that 
cause ?" The public cause of which he was speaking. And 

37 



290 MISCELLANEOUS^ 

he endeavored, in that letter, to prove the propriety and 
necessity of the course he had taken ; but doubtless finding 
that his reasonings had not had sufficient weight with the multi- 
tude, he here brings forward the subject again that he might be 
more explicit upon it. 

" I know that man much better than any of you. Nature 
intended him only for a good-humoured fool. A systematical 
education with long practice, has made him a consummate 
hypocrite." 

Mr. Home, in the character of Junius, here alludes to his 
personal knowledge of George III, when young. " When a 
boy, says Mr. Stephens, he (Home) had been introduced at 
Leicester House, by means of Dr. Demainbray, and was ac- 
customed to play with his present majesty, who was exactly two 
years younger than himself, once or twice a week." And being 
a very forward boy himself, as represented by his biographer, 
he probably drew a comparison unfavorable to the heir to the 
throne, which time had not obliterated. The expression. 
" nature intended him," naturally carries the mind back to the 
period here referred to when the first indications of the future 
man begin to be exhibited. 

" It will be in vain to say that I am bipartisan of Mr. Wilkes, 
or personally your enemy. You will convince no n:|an, for you 
do not believe it yourself." 

Junius, at any rate, here speaks the truth. We have positive 
proof that Mr. Home did not believe Junius to be his enemy. 
Dr. Jolin A. Graham, of New-York, relates a conversation he 
had with Mr. Home, in the year 1797, in the course of which 
the subject of Junius was introduced. The Dr. while express- 
ing his admiration of the general style of the author, ex- 
cepted his harsh epithets and course invectives against parson 
Home ; upon which the latter replied, " Junius is the best friend 
I ever had, and added, that he knew him well, and that he was 
then living^ See Graham's Memoirs of Mr. Tooke, p. 17. 

It appears that this is not the only occasion in which Mr, 
Home acknowledged his acquaintance with Junius. ]Mr. 
Stephens (see his Memoirs, vol. i. p. 415.) speaking of Junius, 
observes, " I have been assured, more than once, by the subject 



ARTICLES. ^91 

of this memoir, that he absolutely knew the author. To another 
gentleman, he lately added, ' that he was still alive.' " 

Although the declaration of Mr. Home to Dr. Graham, in 
regard to the friendship existing between the parties, must be 
admitted to be equivocal, yet, by destroying the supposed re- 
ality of a serious dispute between Home and Junius, it goes to 
undermine the whole plot, and thereby completely to expose 
the fraud. If Junius was Home's best friend, the pretended 
quarrel was a farce, and the disputants one and the same 
person. 

" You say you are a man. Was it generous, was it manly, 
repeatedly to introduce into a newspaper, the name of a young 
lady with whom you must heretofore have lived on terms of 
politeness and good humour ?" 

This nonsense is introduced merely to furnish a topic for dis- 
cussion ; and alludes to the following declaration in one of 
Home's letters to Wilkes ; " To complete his plan of economy, 
he sent his daughter to Paris to see the Dauphin's wedding." 
A mighty uncivil thing to be sure. 

Mr. G. Woodfall, in his edition of 1812, to keep up the de- 
lusion by making something monstrous out of the case, as an 
apology for its introduction, says, " Home had taken liberties 
with the name of Miss Wilkes in his public letters in some of 
the newspapers — and liberties which no misconduct of hers had 
entitled him to take." 

This assertion is made for the first time more than forty years 
after the occurrence alluded to, and of course without any 
knowledge of the fact. Junius only charges Home with " intro- 
ducing into the newspapers the name of a young lady," but 
takes care not to say, that any improper insinuations were 
made, but this defect, in order to justify the parade made about, 
it, has been supplied by Mr. G. Woodfall. The expression, 
" in some of the newspapers," shows Mr. Woodfall's ignorance 
on the subject. The fact is, the passage which served as a 
topic for Mr. Home to exercise his wit upon, if there be any 
wit in the case, appeared in the Public Advertiser, owned and 
edited by Mr, H. S. Woodfall. 



292 MISCELLANEOUS 

" This letter,* you see, is not intended for the public ; but, it' 
you think it \vill do you any service, you are at liberty to publish 
it." 

What ridiculous coquetiy ! It is surprising that this broad, 
awkward finesse should have passed current for a moment. Mr. 
Heron and G. Woodfall have exercised their wits upon it to 
endeavor to make it plausible. Their idea is, that Junius did 
not wish, by the publication of tliis letter, to increase the divi- 
sion existing in the Bill of Rights Society. This supposition is 
too late. It comes after the fair. Why write the letter at all ? 
Why commence the controversy ? The purport of the letter 
was as palpably calculated for the public eye as any part of the 
correspondence. What purpose was to be gained by abusing 
Mr. Home privately ? The die was cast. — The breach in the 
Bill of Rights Society was made, and was irreparable. For 
Junius, after keeping aloof duiing the whole contest of Wilkes 
and Home, till the battle was over, and its consequences known, 
then to come forward with his sage advice, chiding Home for 
not foreseeing the result, is truly contemptible. 

The whole aim of this delicate procedure was to gull the 
public — to prevent a suspicion that this warfare of Junius and 
Home was not a serious, bona fide contest. 

Home to Junius. 

July 31, 1771. 

" Sir, — You have disappointed me. When I told you that 
surmise and general abuse, in however elegant language, ought 
not to pass for proofs, I evidently hinted at the reply which I 
expected ; but you have dropped your usual elegance, and seem 
willing to try what will be the effect of surmise and general 
abuse in very coarse language." 

On this passage Mr. Heron remarks. " Here Home egre- 
giously errs. Junius's last letter is written with as much 
correctness and elegance of style, as any of the former." 



* This letter was transmitted privately by the printer to Mr. Home, at Junius''^ 
renuest. Mr. Home returned it to the printer, with directions to publish it. 



ARTICLES. '2d3 

Mr. Heron did not know the difficult task Home had to per- 
form. Some allowance should be made for a man who writes 
on both sides of a question. He must occasionally say some 
absurd things in order to give himself an opportunity to make 
a smart reply. 

" Of two things, however, he has condescended to give proof. 
He very properly produces a young ladtj to prove that I am 
not a man ; and a good old woman, my grandmother, to prove 
Mr. Oliver a fool. Poor old soul ! she read her Bible far other- 
wise than Junius ! She often found there, that the sins of the 
fathers had been visited on the children ; and therefore was 
cautious that herself, and her immediate decendants, should 
leave no reproach on her posterity : and they left none. How 
little could she foresee this reverse of Junius, who visits my 
political sins upon my grandmother !" 

Mr. Heron seems to have been choked at this passage. 
All he says about it is, " What a paragraph of buflbonery 1" 
He might with propriety have applied the sam^ term to the 
whole correspondence. To my mind it is nothing more. It 
will be observed, that the subject of imputed guilt, in the 
manner of Junius, before quoted, is introduced in this placie. 

" To whom have I, like him, refused my name, upon com- 
plaint of injury? What printer have 1 desired to conceal 
me." 

These remarks are intended to lull any suspicions that he 
was the author of Junius. But that work, it may be presumed, 
did not come within the rule he had established. In declaring 
to Wilkes his general practice to avow whatever he had 
written, he says, " But the rule does not extend to you." 

" But what cares Junius for the security of the constitution ? 
He has now unfolded to us his diabolical principles. As a 
public man he must ever condemn any measure which may 
tend accidentally to gratify the sovereign ; and Mr. Wilkes is 
to be supported and assisted in all his attempts (no matter how 
ridiculous and mischievous his projects) as long as he continues 
to be a thorn in the king's side ! The cause of the country, it 
seems, in the opinion of Junius, is merely to vex the king ; and 
any rascal is to be supported in any roguery, provided he can 



:294 MISCELLANEOUS 

only thereby plant a tlwrn in the king's side. This is the very 
extremity of faction, and the last degree of political wicked- 
ness." 

The gross absurdities strung together in the above passage, 
exhibit in a striking point of view, the embarrassment under 
which the writer labored to support this ridiculous farce, 
which indeed is conspicuous throughout the whole correspon- 
dence. The most trifling, insignificant topics are dwelt upon 
as of the liighest consideration, till the arguments, for and against 
the positions taken, become excessively tiresome and disgusting. 
This would not have been the case had the dispute been a 
real one. The difficulties arose from the awkward condi- 
tion in which the writer had placed himself. But awkward as 
it was, it could hardly have been expected that he would have 
calculated so far upon the ignorance of his readers as to pretend 
that Junius had no regard for the constitution, when his most 
strenuous efforts had been constantly directed to its preserva- 
tion ; nor that he entertained such narrow views in respect 
to the king as are here represented. 

In refutation of the first insinuation, the entire letters of 
Junius may be referred to, and in regard to the latter, I quote 
the following passages. 

" The people of England are loyal to the House of Hanover ; 
not from a vain preference of one family to another, but from 
a conviction, that the establishment of that family was necessary 
to the support of their civil and religious liberties. Tliis, sir, is a 
principle of allegiance equally solid and rational, fit for English- 
men to adopt, and well worthy of your majesty's encourage- 
ment." 

" That he is king of a free people, is, indeed, his greatest 
glory. That he may long continue the king of a free people, is 
the second wish that animates my heail. The first is, that the 
people may he free^ 

This was the manly sort of loyalty always professed by 
Junius, as Junius, and by John Home personally. 

" Upon these principles I never have acted, and I never will 
act. In my opinion, it is less dishonorable to be the creature of 
a court, than the tool of a faction. I will not be either." 



ARTI&LES. 295 

Junius, when he had a better opinion of Wilkes than he after- 
wards entertained, in a letter dated May, 1767, under the signa- 
ture of Poplicola, speaking of the persecutions the latter had 
experienced from the whig party under the influence of lord 
Chatham, says, " He served them perhaps with too much zeal ; 
but such is the reward which the tools olfaction usually receive, 
and in some measure desei've, when they are imprudent enough 
to hazard every thing in support of other men's ambition." 

" Whatever may be the event of the present wretched state 
of politics in this country, the principles of Junius will suit no 
form of government. They are not to be tolerated under any 
constitution. Personal enmity is a motive fit only for the devil. 
Whoever or whatever is sovereign, demands the resjject and 
support of the people." 

Could Mr. Home suppose the public would think him serious 
when he wrote the above passage ? Could there have been 
a greater insult offered to the common sense of the English 
nation, than for Mr. Home to pretend to entertain such a senti- 
ment ? Had the nation forgotten his comparing the sangfroid 
with which the then king of England had received the complaints 
of his subjects to Nero's fiddling while Rome was burning ? 

Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

Aug. 15, 1771. 
This letter was affectedly addressed to the printer, for the 
purpose of giving to the correspondence an air of seriousness 
and consequence. 

" Mr. Home's situation does not correspond with his inten- 
tions. In my opinion, (which I know will be attributed to my 
usual vanity and presumption) his letter to me does not 
deserve an answer. But I understand that the public are not 
satisfied with my silence ; that an answer is expected from me; 
and that if I persist in refusing to plead, it will be taken for con- 
viction. I should be inconsistent with the principles I profess, 
if I declined an appeal to .the good sense of the people, or did 
not wiUingly submit myself to the judgment of my peers." 

Mr. Home, in his last letter, had refuted all the charges pre- 
ferred against him, on account of his quarrel with Wilkes, of 



29ti MISCEIXANEOUS 

which the attacks of Junius were a mere repetition, and brought 
forward for the sole pui-pose of giving him an opportunity to do 
so. And now Mr. Home and his fiiend Junius, it seems, had 
mutually agreed to suspend any farther proceedings in this 
amicable suit. The public, it appears, were fully aware that 
Home had obtained a complete victory over his fictitious 
adversary, and called loudly for another Junius. Under these 
circumstances Junius again reluctantly enters the lists. This 
second attack, he calls an appeal, thereby acknowledging his 
defeat on the first trial. In this letter there is a good deal of 
irrelevant remark — no new charges are brought, nor former 
ones established. 

There are, however, in this letter some points which go to 
establish the unity of these two characters, which I shall notice. 

" As for myself, it is no longer a question, ' Whether I shall 
mix with the throng, and take a single shai'e in the danger.* 
Whenever Junius appears, he must encounter a host of enemies. 
But is there no honorable way to sei*ve the public, w-ithout 
engaging in personal quarrels with insignificant individuals, or 
submitting to the drudgery of canvassing votes for an election ? 
Is there no merit in dedicating my life to the information of my 
fellow-subjects ? What public question have I declined 1 What 
villain have I spared ? Is there no labour in the composition of 
these letters V 

The language of Home, in his letter preceding this, bears a 
strong resemblance to the above. — Which is as follows : 

" In the infinite variety of business in which I have been con- 
cerned, where it is not so easy to be faultless, which of my 
actions can he arraign f To what danger has any man been 
exposed, which I have not faced ? Information, action, imprison- 
ment, or death ? What labor have I refused ? What expense 
have I declined ? Wliat pleasure have I not renounced ?" 

Compare also the following passage in a letter of Home to 
Wilkes, dated May, 1771. 

" But whatever may be the opinion^ of any persons concern- 
ing my conduct, I shall not alter it ; their uninformed opinions 
affect me little : I know my own situation ; I must ever remain 
a poor and a private man, and can never be a candidate for t\v 



ARTICLES. 29t 

favor or confidence ot" the public. The voice of the people is 
not the voice of God to me, though (in the fair meaning of the 
Vi^ord people) I have never thought it wrong ; but it is the voice 
within me that shall ever be the guide of my actions." 

In the passage extracted from the foregoing letter of Junius, 
it is evident, that Mr. Home under that signature was describ- 
ing his own situation. As he had become unpopular, he did not 
appear personally to take any part in the political squabbles of 
the day ; and he compares his present occupation with what it 
had been when canvassing votes for Wilkes, contending with 
Onslow, &c, 

" It seems I am a partisan of the great leader of the opposi- 
tion. If the charge had been a reproach, it should have been 
better supported. I did not intend to malce a public declaration 
of the respect I bear lord Chatham ; I well knew what unworthy 
conclusions would be drawn from it. But I am called upon to 
deliver my opinion ; and surely it is not in the httle censure of 
Mr. Home to deter me from doing signal justice to a man, who, 
I confess, hsi?, grown upon my esteem. As for the common sordid 
views of avarice, or any purpose of vulgar ambition, I question 
^whether the applause of Junius would be of service to lord 
Chatham. My vote will hardly recommend him to an increase 
of his pension, or to a seat in the cabinet. But, if his ambition 
be upon a level with his understanding, if he judges of what is 
truly honourable for himself, with the same superior genius 
wliich animates and directs him to eloquence in debate, to wis- 
dom in decision, even the pen of Junius shall contribute to re- 
ward him. Recorded honours shall gather round his monu- 
ment, and thicken over him. It is a solid fabric, and will sup- 
port the laurels that adorn it. I am not conversant in the lan- 
guage of panegyric. These praises are extorted from me ; 
but they will wear well, for they have been dearly earned." 

'• The shortening the duration of parliament is a subject on 
which Mr. Home cannot enlarge too warmly, nor will I ques- 
tion his sincerity. If I did not profess the same sentiments, I 
should be shamefully inconsistent with myself It is unneces- 
sary to bind lord Chatham by the written formality of an en- 

'38 



298 MI8C£LIiA|«EeUS 

gagenient. He has publicly declared himself a convert to tri- 
ennial parliaments." 

This equivocal praise, or rather insidious reproach, has been 
considered as a high eulogy upon lord Chatham, and Junius in 
consequence ranked among his most stanch friends. 

"If his ambition," &c. "If he judges of what is truly honor- 
able," &c. — Then even the pen of Junius which has been so 
often employedagainst him, shall contribute to reward him, &€» 

" I Imew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel ; 
but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought 
but of an if, as, if you said so, then I said so; and they shook 
hands, and swore brothers. Your if is the only peace-maker ; 
much virtue in ?/."* 

To test the friendship of Junius for lord Chatham, it is neces- 
saiy to revert to his letters under other signatures, in which, it 
seems, he expressed his mind more freely in regard to some 
characters than when he gave his favorite signature. 

In a letter signed Poplicola, May 28, 1767, he says, " Mr. 
C. D. will find but few people credulous enough to believe that 
either Mr. Pitt or Mr. Pultney, when they accepted of a title, 
did not, by that action, betray their friends, their country, and, 
in every honorable sense, themselves." 

Dec. 19, 1767. 
" I will not suppose that the bulk of the British people is sunk 
into so criminal a state of stupidity ; but that there does exist a par- 
ticular set of men, base and treacherous enough to have enlisted 
under the banners of a lunatic,f to whom they sacrificed their 
honor, their conscience, and their country, in order to carry a 
point of party, and to gratify a personal rancour, is a truth too 
melancholy and too cei lain for Great Britain.'' 

22 Dec. 1767. 
"Mr. Woodfall, — Your correspondent of yesterday, Mr. 
Macaroni, in his account of the new ministerial arrangements, 
has thrust in a labored bombast panegyric on the earl of Chat- 
ham ; in which he tells us, ' that this country owes more to him 
than it can ever repay.' Now, Mr. Woodfall, I entirely agree 

* Shakespeare. t Lord Chatham. 



ARTICLES, 



'299 



with Mr. Macaroni, that this country does owe more to lord 
Chatham than it can ever repay ; for to him we owe the gi-eat- 
est part of our national debt ; and that I am sure we can never 
repay. I mean no offence to Mr. Macaroni, nor any of your 
gentlemen authors, who are so kind to give us citizens an early 
peep behind the pohtical curtain, but I cannot bear to see so 
much incense offered to an idol, who so little deserves it. I am 
yours, &c. DOWNRIGHT." 

Junius was no changeling in principle, although he possessed 
a happy knack of adapting his cameleon hues to the attainment 
of the object he had in view. 

The intention of these extorted praises, as Junius calls them, 
was toj9m lord Chatham to hisdeclarationsinfavor of triennial 
parliaments. 

To understand the force and bearmg of the observations in 
this correspondence respecting lord Chatham, a short history of 
the occurrences which led to them is required. 

In consequence of the part taken by Chatham, in regard to 
the subjects which agitated the public mind at that time, the 
corporation of the city of London presented him with the fol- 
lowing vote of thanks : 

"At a Common Council holden on the I4th of May, 1770, 
it was resolved, ' That the grateful thanks of this court be pre- 
sented to the Right Hon. William earl of Chatham, for the zeal he 
has shown in support of those most valuable and sacred privi- 
leges, the right of election, and the right of petition ; and for 
his wishes and declaration, that his endeavors shall hereafter be 
used that parliaments may be restored to their original purity 
by shortening their duration, and introducing a more full and 
equal representation ; an act which will render his name more 
honored by posterity, than the memorable successes of the 
glorious war he conducted." ' 

The following are extracts from lord Chatham's answer : 

" As to the point among the declarations which I am under- 
stood to have made, of my wishes for the pubhc, permit me to 
say there has been some misapprehension, for with all my 
deference to the sentiments of the city, I am bound to declare. 



300 MISCELLANEOUS 

that I cannot recommend triennial parliaments as a remedy 
against that canker of the constitution, venality in elections ; 
ready to submit my opinion to better judgment, if the wish for 
that measure shall become prevalent in the kingdom. Purity 
of parliament is the corner-stone in the commonwealth ; and as 
one obvious means towards this necessary end is to strengthen 
and extend the natural relation between the constituents and the 
elected, I have, in this view, publicly expressed my earnest 
wishes for a more full and equal representation, by the addition 
of one knight of the shire in a county, as a farther balance to 
the mercenary boroughs. 

I have thrown out this idea with the just diffidence of a 
private man, when he presumes to suggest any thing new on a 
high matter. Animated by your approbation, I shall with better 
hope continue humbly to submit it to the public wisdom, as an 
object most dehberately to be weighed, accurately examined, 
and maturely digested." 

Mr. Home alludes to this vote of thanks and answer thereto, 
in his letter to Junius, July 31, 1771, as follows : 

*' It was the same motive which dictated the thanks of the 
city to lord Chatham, which were expressed to be given for his 
declaration in favor of short parliaments, in order thereby to 
fix lord Chatham, at least, to that one constitutional remedy, 
without which all others can afford no security. The em- 
barrassment no doubt was cruel. He had his choice, either 
to offend the Rockingham party, who declared formally against 
short parliaments, and with the assistance of whose numbers in 
both houses he must expect again to be minister, or to give up 
the confidence of the pubhc, from whom, finally, all real conse- 
quence must proceed. Lord Chatham chose the latter ; and I 
will venture to say, that, by his answer to those thanks, he has 
given up the people without gaining the friendship or cordial 
assistance of the Rockingham faction." 

Then comes the observations of Junius before quoted. On 
which there is a very fair and satisfactory commentary by Junius, 
in a letter to Wilkes of the 7th of Sept. following, in these 
words : 



ARTICLES. 30] 

" To a man so capable of observation and reflection as you are, 
it is unnecessary to say all that might be said upon the subject. 
Besides that I approve highly of lord Chatliam's idea of ' in- 
fusing a portion of health into the constitution to enable it to 
bear its infirmities,' (a brilliant expression, nnd full of intrinsic 
wisdom) other reasons concur in persuading me to adopt it. I 
have no objection to paying him such compliments as carry a 
condition with them, and either hind him firmly to the cause, or 
become the bitterest reproach to him if he deserts it." " At the 
same time that I think it good policy to pay those compliments 
to lord Chatham, which, in truth, he has nobly deserved, I should 
be glad to mortify those contemptible creatures, who call them- 
selves noblemen, whose worthless importance depends entirely 
upon their influence over boroughs, which cannot be safely di 
minished, but by increasing the power of the counties at large." 

In the same letter, speaking of the resolves of the society for 
the support of the Bill of Rights, he says, " With regard to 
the articles taken separately, I own I am concerned to see 
that the*great condition, which ought to be the sine qua non of 
parliamentary qualification, which ought to be the basis, as it 
assuredly will be the only support, of every barrier raised in 
defence of the constitution ; I mean a declaration upon oath to 
shorten the duration of parliaments, is reduced to the fourth rank 
in the esteem of the society." 

It seems to have been the wish of Mr. Home to fix lord 
Chatham " at least to one constitutional remedy" — and it was 
the aim of Junius to " bind him firmly to the cause." There 
does not therefore appear to have been much contrariety in 
their views. The little censure, consequently, of lord Chatham 
by Home in comparison with the greater censure of the same 
character by Junius, can be accounted for in consideration of 
the greater freedom commonly taken by writers anonymously, 
than under their proper signatures. 

It appears that Junius, alias Home, had previously by great 
management brought lord Chatham to declare himself in favor 
of triennial parliaments ; and it was probably thought necessary 
to bestow a little flattery upon him, as well as reproaches for 
his former conduct, to prevent his relinquishing that ground. 



302 MISCELLANEOUS 

Abusing him under one signature and praising him under tlie other. 
For we find that, in a debate before the house of lords, April 
30, 1771, on the subject of the violations of the rights of the 
electors, in the election for Middlesex, lord Chatham said, 

" That formerly the inconveniences of shortening the duration 
of parliaments had had great weight with him, but that now it 
was no longer a question of convenience, the summa rerum is at 
stake, — your whole constitution is giving way ; — and therefore, 
with the most deliberate and solemn conviction to his under- 
standing, he now declared himself a convert to triennial parlia- 
ments." 

Mr. Home closes the correspondence as follows : 

" You brought a positive charge against me of corruption. I 
denied the charge, and called for your proofs. You replied 
with abuse, and re-asserted your charge. I called again for 
proofs. You reply again with abuse only, and drop your accu- 
sation. In your fortnight's letter, there is not one word upon 
the subject of my corruption. 

" I have no more to say, but to return thanks to you for your 
condescension, and to a grateful public, and honest ministry, for 
aJl the favors they have conferred upon me." 

T\ms endiB \\\\s sham fight ; and although there was nothing 
material to answer in the last letter of Junius, he thus writes to 
Woodfall ; " If Mr. Home answers this letter handsomely and 
in point, he shall be my great Apollo." 

Fraud is stamped upon this correspondence from beginning 
to end. Even the manner in which Mr. Home subscribes him- 
self in his first letter shows plainly that it was a hoax. He did 
not usually affect any etiquette in his correspondences, yet, in 
this instance, although apparently attacked in a very abusive 
manner by an anonymous writer, he closes his answer with, 
" I am, sir, your humble servant." This unusual and unneces- 
sary appendage to a letter addressed to an anonymous writer, 
was evidently made to give an appearanpe of seriousness and 
reality to a fiction. Mr. Home however obtained his object 
in showing the propriety of his conduct in respect to Wilkes ; 
and was declared victor over the vanquisher of all others who 
dared to enter the lists against him. 



ARTICLES. 303 

The editors of the Quarterly Review, speaking of Mr. Home, 
say, " The most finished specimen of his composition is probably 
to be found in the two or three letters written in answer to the 
attacks of Junius ; and he had the honor, which, in those days, 
was deemed no inconsiderable one, of being the only knight that 
returned with his lance unbroken from a combat with that un- 
known, but terrible champion. The great fault of Junius is a 
sort of stiffness and appearance of labor. His compositions 
smell too much of the lamp. He wanted nothing to be a 
perfect master of his art, but the power of concealing it. Mr. 
Tooke's letters have the flow, unity, and simplicity which belong 
to writings struck off" at a heat, and which depend for their 
effect, rather upon the general powers of the writer, than upon 
great nicety and labor in the particular instance. 

" In justice to Junius, as a writer, we must add, that he was 
laboring under the disadvantage of a weak case. It is evident 
that he was early and deeply sensible of his own mistake ; and 
he was therefore glad to put an end to the contest as soon as 
possible, even at the price of leaving his adversary in posses- 
sion of the field ; a humiliation to which he would not have sub- 
mitted, but from the consciousness of his having originally 
selected an unfavorable ground." 

The reviewers are in error in supposing that Junius made a 
mistake in this case. The controversy undoubtedly ended as 
he had calculated and intended. — If their criticism in regard to 
the style of the letters be correct, it is easily accounted for : 
the subjects to which Home had to reply were at his fingers' 
ends, he having just travelled over the same ground with Wilkes. 
But on the other side he had to take a new tack, and no doubt 
felt awkward in it, for the charges were to be wholly fabricated 
\Adthout any plausible pretext for their support. 

In regard to the letters of Junius generally, great pains were 
taken in their composition to render them palatable to the 
public, and the author no doubt departed in a great measure 
from his usual style to prevent detection. 

Finally, this dispute between Junius and Home, may be com- 
pared to the quarrels of lawyers intended only to dupe their 
clients into an opinion that they are in earnest, and to be laughed 



304 3USCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 

at whenever they meet out of court. The only cirft'erence in 
the cases is, that Home had the laugh entirely to himself. His 
entertainment was a solo, at the performance of which even 
spectators could not be a-uiiitted. 

After writing the above, I observed in a number of the New 
Monthly Magazine* for March, 1824, in an article on Home 
Tooke, the following remarks, that, " Junius, after bringing a 
hasty charge against him, (Tooke) has not a single fact to pro- 
duce in support of it ; but keeps his ground and fairly beats his 
adversary out of the field by the mere force of style." Ridi- 
culous. It is surprising that it did not occur to the writer of 
this article that it was improbable that Junius, with all his fore- 
sight, would make a serious charge against any one without 
possessing any facts to support it, and particularly against such 
a person as John Home Tooke, who was so capable of de- 
fending himself; and this too for the purpose of vindicating the 
conduct of a demagogue whom he despised. The want of a 
due understanding of this pretended quarrel has led writers on 
the subject into the most wild and contradictory speculations. 

This writer, however, is correct in sav ing, that " Junius has 
not a single fact to produce in support of his hasty charge," and 
this ought to have convinced him that the charge was riot seri- 
ously made — that it was all a hoax. 

By a critical examination of the correspondence of Junius 
and Home, it will be perceived that there is a strong internal 
evidence arising from the similarity of diction, independent of 
other circumstances, to prove that one and the same hand com- 
posed the letters under both signatures. Former critiques 
upon these letters have been written under a prepossession that 
they were the composition of different hands, and therefore the 
attention of the writers of them was diverted from observing 
that similarity of style which probably would have been noticed 
had the examinations been made free from previous impressions. 



\ T,ondon publication. 



POSTHUMOUS WORKS 



OF 



JUNIUS. 



39: 



POSTHUMOUS WORKS. &c. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Private correspondence between Junius and John Wilkes. 

The correspondence of Home and Wilkes was brought to 
a close on the 10th July, 1771. On the 9th of the same month, 
Mr. Home engages in a warfare with Junius. In this con- 
troversy, Junius by a specious appearance of earnestness la 
his attacks upon Home, and vindication of Wilkes, induces the 
latter to form a favorable opinion of his disposition towards 
him. — The dispute ended on the 16th of August, and on the 
21st of the same, Junius commences a private correspondence 
with Wilkes, who was now well prepared to receive any im- 
pression which his friend Junius should think proper to impose 
upon him. Although in this correspondence Junius appears to 
have taken little pains to cloak the deception, and notwithstand- 
ing the gross flatteries bestowed upon Wilkes so contrary to the 
uniform habits of Junius, still the former was completely gulled ; 
and what is more extraordinary, the readers of Junius to this 
day have labored under the same delusion. Here follows the 
correspondence. 

No. 1. To John Wilkes, Esq. 

London, 21st August, l??!.* 
I presume, sir, you are satisfied that I mean you well, and 
that it is not necessary to assure you that while you adhere to the 



=* On this letter is written in Mr. Wilkes's own hand, the following memorandum; 

" August, 21, 1771. 
" Received on Wednesday noon by a chairman, who said he brought it from a 
gentleman whom he saw in Lancaster Court, in the Strand. J, W." 



'SOS CORRESPONDENCE, 

resolution of depending only upon the public favor, (which, iS 
you have half the understanding I attribute to you, you never 
can depart from) you may rely upon my utmost assistance. 
Whatever imaginary views may be ascribed to the author, it 
must always make part of Junius's plan to support Mr. Wilkes 
while he makes common cause with the people.* I would en- 
gage your favorable attention to what I am going to say to you ; 
and I intreat you not to be too hasty in concluding, from the 
apparent tendency of this letter, to any possible interests or 
connexions of my own. It is a veiy common mistake in judg- 
ment, and a very dangerous one in conduct, first to look for 
nothing in the argument proposed to us, but the motive of the 
man who uses it, and then to measure the truth of his argument 
by the motive we have assigned to him. With regard to me, 
sir, any refinement in this way would assuredly mislead you : 
and though I do not disclaim the idea of some personal views 
to future honor and advantage, (you would not believe me if 
I did) yet I can truly affirm, that neither are they little in them- 
selves nor can they by any possible conjecture be collected from 
my writings. 

Mr. Home after doing much mischief, is now, I think, com- 
pletely defeated and disarmed. The author of the late unhappy 
divisions . in the city is removed. — Why should we suflfer his 
works to live after him ? In this view, I confess, I am vindic- 
tive, and would visit his sins upon his children. I would punish 
him in his offspring, by repairing the breaches he has made. — • 
Convinced that I am speaking to a man who has spirit enough 
to act if his judgment be satisfied, I \v\\\ not scruple to declare 
at once, that Mr. Sawbridge ought to be lord mayor, and that 
he ought to owe it to your first motion, and to the exertion of all 
your credit in the city. — I aflirm, without a doubt, that political 
prudence, the benefit of the cause, your public reputation and 
personal interests, do all equally demand this conduct of you. 
— I do not deny that a stroke like this is above tlie level of 
vulgar policy, or that if you were a much less considemble man 
than you are, it would not suit you. But you will recollect, 

'^ This was always the uniform language of Mr. Home, 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 309 

Sir, that the public opinion of you rises every day, and that you 
must enlarge your plan as you proceed, since you have every 
day a new acquisition of credit to maintain. — I offer you the 
sincere opinion of a man, who, perhaps, has more leisure to 
make reflections than you have, and who, though he stands clear 
of all business and intrigue, mixes sufficiently for the purposes 
of intelligence in the conversation of the world. 

Whatever language you in prudence assume to the public, 
you cannot but be sensible that the separation of those gentle- 
men who withdrew from the Bill of Rights, was of considerable 
disservice to you. It required, in my opinion, your utmost 
dexterity and resolution, and not a little of your good fortune, 
to get the better of it. But are you now really upon the best 
ground on which Mr. Wilkes might stand in the city ? Will you 
say, that to separate Mr. Sawbridge from a connexion every 
way hostile to you, and to secure him against the insidious arts 
of Mr. Home, and the fury of Mr. Townshend, (if it could be 
done without embarrassmg your leading measures, and much 
more if it promoted them) would not give you a considerable 
personal gratification ?* Will you say, that a public declaration 
of Mr. Sawbridge in your favor, and the appearance of your 



* Mr. Sawbridge was the steadfast and invariable friend of Mr. Home. He 
and alderman Townsend, says Woodfall, " had been persuaded by Home to unite 
in supporting Oliver against Wilkes," for sheriff. In a list of the particular friends 
of Mr. Home, given by Stephens, Sawbridge holds a conspicuous place. When 
preparing for admission to the bar as an attorney, he observes, " Sawbridge, 
Townsend, and two other friends agreed to present him with joint bonds for four 
hundred a year, which he received most gratefully, but never asked for." When 
Mr. Home had been condemned to imprisonment on a charge of libel against 
the government, "no sooner (says Stephens) was he settled in comfortable 
apartments, without the walls of the prison, that Mr. Horne received visits from 
all his friends, particidarly the aldermen Oliver, Townsend, and Sawbridge ; 
together with Sir J ohn Bernard and Mr. Tooke. These, and several others, soon 
after instituted a weekly meeting at a neighboring tavern ; a circumstance, which 
gave birth, perhaps, to the Sunday dinners, at Wimbledon, many years after." 

This is the gentleman whom Junius recommends to the support of Mr. Wilkes 
for lord mayor, in order " to secure him against the insidious arts of Mr. Horne, 
and the fury of Mr. Townshend." Excellent. This gilding of the bait was 
well thought of. It would have been too gross to include Townshend among 
the favored ; but Sawbridge when mayor could take care of his friends^ 



310 CORRESPONDENCE. 

acting together, (I do not speak at present of a hearty coalitioft 
or confidence) would not contribute to give you a more secure, 
a more permanent, and without offence to any man, a more 
honorable hold upon the city than you have at present ? What 
sensations do you conceive a union between you and Mr. Saw- 
bridge would excite in the breast of Mr. Home ? Would it 
not amount to a decisive refutation of all the invidious argu- 
ments he has drawn from your being deserted by so many of 
the considerable figures of the party ?* The answer to these 
questions is too obvious to be mistaken. But you will say to 
yourself what you would not confess to Junius. — ^^ Mr. Saw- 
bridge is a man of unquestionable probity, and the concurrence 
of his reputation would undoubtedly be of service to me ; but 
he has not pliancy enough to yield to persuasion, and I, Wilkes, 
am determined not to suffer another to reap the harvest of my 
labors : that is, to take the lead of me in the city.' — Sir, I do 
not mean or expect that you should make such a sacrifice to 
any man. But besides difference in point of conduct between 
leading and going foremost, I answer your thoughts when I say, 
that although Mr. Sawbridge is not to be directed (and even 
this perhaps is not so literally and completely true as he himself 
imagines) on the other hand he does not mean to direct. His 
disposition, as you well know, is not fitted for that active 
management and intrigue which acquire an operating popularity, 
and direct the people by their passions. I attribute to you both 
the most honorable intentions for the public, but you travel 
different roads, and never can be rivals. — It is not that Mr. 
Sawbridge does not wish to be popular ; but, if I am not greatly 
mistaken, his virtues have not ostentation enough for the ordi- 
nary uses of party, and that they lead rather to the esteem of 
individuals than to popular opinion. — This I conceive is exactly 
the man you want — you cannot always support a ferment in 
the minds of men. There will necessarily be moments of 
languor and fatigue ; and upon these occasions Mr. Sawb ridge's 
reputed firmness and integrity may be a capital resource to you, 



* Here the imidims artifice of Mr. Home is fully exeraplified. 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 



311 



—you have too 'much sagacity not to perceive how far this 
reasoning might be carried. 

In the very outset, you reap a considerable advantage, either 
from his acceptance or refusal. — What a copious subject of 
ostentation ! — what rich colors to the public ! your zeal to re- 
store tranquillity to the city. — The sacrifice of all personal 
recollections in favor of a man whose general character you 
esteem ; — the public good preferred to every private or interest- 
ed consideration, with a long ct ccBtera to your own advantage. 
— Yet I do not mean to persuade you to so simple a part as 
that of contributing to gratify Mr. Sawbridge, without a reci- 
procal assurance from him, that upon fair and honorable occa- 
sions he will in return promote your advantage. — Your own 
judgment will easily suggest to you such terms of acknowledg- 
ment as may be binding upon him in point of gratitude, and 
not offensive to his delicacy. — I have not entered into the con- 
sideration of any objections drawn from the fertile field of 
provocation and resentment. — Common men are influenced by 
common motives ; — but you, sir, who pretend to lead the people, 
must act upon higher principles. To make our passions sub- 
servient to you, you must command your own. The man, who 
for any personal indulgence w^hatsoever, can sacrifice a great 
purpose to a little one, is not qualified for the management of 
great aflfairs. 

Let me suppose then that every material difficulty on your 
part is removed ; and that, as far as you alone are concerned, 
you would be ready to adopt the plan I propose to you. 

If you are a man of honor you will still have a powerful 
objection to oppose to me. Admitting the apparent advantage 
to your own purposes, and to the cause you are engaged in, you 
will tell me " that you are no longer at liberty to choose ; — ^that 
the desertion of those persons who once possessed a warm 
attachment to you, has reduced you to a situation in which you 
cannot do that wliich is absolutely best ; — that Mr. Crosby has 
deserved every thing from you and from the city, and that you 
stand engaged to contribute your whole strength to continue 
him another year in the mayoralty." — My reply to this very 
just objection is addressed rather to Mr. Crosby than to Mr, 



313 CORRESPONDENCE, 

Wilkes. He ought at all events to be satisfied ; and if I cannot 
bring him over to my opinion, there is an end of the argument ; 
for I do agree with you most heartily, that it is as gross a breach 
of policy as of morals, to sacrifice the man who has deserved 
well of us to any temporary benefit whatsoever. Far from 
meaning to separate you from Mr. Crosby, it is essential to the 
measure I recommend, that it should be your joint act. Nay, 
it is he who in the first instance should open the communication 
with Mr. Sawbridge ; nor is it possible for you to gain any 
credit by the measure in which he will not of necessity be a 
considerable sharer. But now, for considerations which imme- 
diately affect Mr. Crosby. 

Your plan, as I am informed, is to engage the livery to return 
him with Mr. Bridgen. — In my own opinion the court of alder- 
men will choose Bridgen, consequently the sacrifice I require 
of Mr. Crosby would in effect be nothing. That he will be 
defeated is to my judgment inevitable. It is for him to consider 
whether the idea of a defeat be not always attended with some 
loss of reputation. In that case too he will have forced upon 
the citizens (whom he professes to love and respect) a magis- 
trate, upon whose odious and contemptible character he at 
present founds his only hopes of success. Do you think that 
the city will not once in the course of a twelvemonth be sensi- 
ble of the displeasure you have done them ? — Or that it will 
not be placed in strong terms to your account. I appeal to 
Miss Wilkes, whose judgment I heai* highly commended, — ■ 
would she think herself much indebted to her favorite admirer, 
if he forced a most disagreeable partner upon her for a long 
winter's night, because he could not dance with her himself? 

You will now say ; — * Sir, we understand the politics of the 
city better than you do,'and are well assured that Mr. Crosby will 
be chosen lord mayor : — otherwise we allow that upon your 
plan he might acquire credit without forfeiting any real advan- 
tage.' Upon this ground I expect you, for I confess it is incum- 
bent upon me to meet your argument, where it lies strongest 
against me. — Taking it for granted, then, that Mr. Crosby may 
be lord mayor, I affirm that it is not his interest, because it is 
not his ^-eatest interest. The little profit of the salary cannot 



JUNIUS ANM WILKES. 



313 



possibly be in contemplation with him. — I do not doubt that he 
would rather make it an expensive office to himself. His view 
must be directed then to the flattering distinction of succeeding 
to a second mayoralty, and what is still more honorable, to the 
being thought worthy of it by his fellow-citizens. — Placing this 
advantage in its strongest light, I say that every purpose of dis- 
tinction is as completely answered by his being known to have 
had the employment in his power (which may be well insisted 
upon in argument, and can never be disproved by the fact) as 
by his accepting it. To this I add the signal credit he will 
acquire with every honest man by renouncing, upon motives of 
the clearest and most disinterested public spirit, a personal honor, 
which you may fairly tell the world was unquestionably within 
his reach. — But these are trifles. — I assert that by now accept- 
ing the mayoralty (which he may take hereafter whenever he 
pleases) he precludes himself from soliciting, with any color of 
decency, a real and solid reward from the city. — I mean that 
he should be returned for London in the next parliament. — I 
think his conduct entitles him to it, and that he cannot fail of 
succeeding if he does not furnish his opponents with too just a 
pretence for saying that the city have already rewarded him. 
On the contrary, with what force and truth may he tell his fel- 
low-citizens at the next election, ' for your sakes I rehnquished 
the honor you intended me. The common good required it. 
But I did not mean to renounce my hopes that upon a proper 
occasion you would honor me with a public mark of your appro- 
bation.' 

You see I did not insist upon the good effects of Mr. Saw- 
bridge's gratitude, yet I am sure it may be depended upon. I 
do not say that he is a man to go all lengths with Mr. Wilkes ; 
but you may be assured that it is not danger that will deter 
him, and that wherever you have the voice of the people with 
you, he will, upon principle, support their choice at the hazard 
of his life and fortune. 

Now, sir, supposing all objections are removed, and that 
you and Mr. Crosby are agreed, the question is in what manner 
is the business to be opened to Mr. Sawbridge. Upon this 
point too I shall offer you my opinion, because the plan of thi'^ 

40 



314 (JORRESVO)iDE^LL. 

letter would not otherwise be complete- — At the same time I do 
very unaffectedly submit myself to your judgment. 

I would have my lord mayor begin by desiring a private 
interview between him, Mr. Crosby and yourself. Very little 
preface will be necessaiy. You have a man to deal with who 
is too honorable to take an unfair advantage of you. With such 
a man you gain every thing by frankness and candor, and 
hazard nothing by the confidence you repose in him. — Not- 
withstanding any passages in this letter, I would show him the 
whole of it ; in a great business there is nothing so fatal as 
cunning management :— and I would tell him it contained the 
plan upon which Mr. Crosby and you were desirous to act, 
provided he would engage to concur in it bona fide, so far forth 
as he was concerned. There is one condition I own which 
appears to me a sine qua non ; and yet I do not see how it can 
be proposed in terms unless his own good sense suggests the 
necessity of it to him. — I mean the total and absolute renuncia - 
lion of Mr. Home. It is very likely indeed that this gentleman 
may do the business for liimself, either by laying aside the 
mask at once, or by abusing Mr. Sawbridge for accepting the 
mayoralty upon any terms whatsoever of accommodation with 
Mr. Wilkes.* 

This letter, sir, is not intended for a correct or polished com- 
position ; but it contains the very best of Junius's understanding. 
Do not treat me so unworthily, or rather do not degrade your- 
self so much, as to susjject me of any interested view to Mr. Saw- 
bridge's particular advantage. By all that's honorable I mean 
nothing but the cause ; and I may defy your keenest penetration 
to assign a satisfactory reason why Junius, whoever he may be. 
should have a personal interest in giving the mayoralty to Mr. 
Sawbridge, rather than to Mr. Crosby. 

I am heartily weary of writing, and shall reserve another 
subject, on which I mean to address you, for another opportu- 



* AVliat manoeuvring, to bring Wilkes to a proper bearing on the subject, thai 
he might take a full \ iew of the whole ground. What jnask had Mr. Home to 
lav aside, except tliat of appearing in false color? under the signatura ofJuniiis > 



JL^flUfe AND WIL.KE-*:. 315 

inty. — 1 think that this letter, if you act upon it, should be a 
secret to every body but Mr. Sawbridge and my lord mayor. 

JUNIUS.* 

Letter II. To John Wilkes, Esq. 

London, 7111 September, 1771."^ 
As this letter, sir, has no relation to the subject of my last, the 
motives upon which you may have rejected one of my opinions, 
ought not to influence your judgment of another. I am not very 
sanguine in my expectations of persuading, nor do I think myself 
entitled to quarrel with any man, for not following my advice ; 
yet this, I believe, is a species of injustice you have often expe- 
rienced from your friends. From you, sir, I expect in return, 
that you will not remember how unsuccessfully I have recom- 
mended one measure to your consideration, lest you should think 
yourself bound to assert your consistency, and, in the true spirit 
of persecution, to pass the same sentence indifferently upon all 
my opinions. Forgive this levity, and now to the business. 

A man, who honestly engages in a public cause, must prepare' 
himself for events which will at once demand his utmost 
patience, and rouse his warmest indignation. I feel myself, at 
this moment in the very situation I describe ; yet from the 
common enemy I expect nothing but hostilities against the 
people. It is the conduct of our friends that surprises and 

* The plan recommended by Junius in the above letter was not acted upon by 
Mr. Wilkes, for the reasons assigned by him in his letter of Sept 12, 1771, (No. 3.) 
The consequence was, that Mr. Alderman Nash, the ministerial candidate, was 
elected lord mayor, to the infinite mortification of Junius, who, in Private Letter, 
No. 56, makes the following observation upon liim and his election, " What an 
abandoned, prostituted idiot is your lord mayor ! The shameful mismanagement, 
which brought him into office, gave me tlie first, and an unconquerable disgust." 
The subjoined is a list of the candidates for that office, with the numbers affixed 
to their respective names as they stood at the rlose of the poll : — 
For Mr. Alderman Nash - - 2199 

Mr. Alderman Sawbridge - 1879 

The lord mayol- - - - 1795 

Mr, Aldermap Halifax - - 846 

Mr, Alderman Townshend - 151 

Sir Henry Bankes - - 36 

■'- Marked by Mr. Wilkes, " Received Saturday, Sept. 7, 1771." 



afflicts inc. I cannot but resent the injury done to the common 
cause by the assembly at the London Tavern, nor can I conceal 
from you my own particular disappointment. They had it in 
their power to perform a real, effectual service to the nation ; 
and we expected from them a proof, not only of their zeal, but 
of their judgment. — Whereas the measure they have adopted 
is so shamefully injudicious, with regard to its declared object, 
that, in my opinion, it will, and reasonably ought, to make their 
zeal very questionable with the people they mean to serve. 
When I see a measure excellent in itself, and not absolutely 
unattainable, either not made the principal object, or extrava- 
gantly loaded with conditions palpably absurd or impracticable, 
I cannot easily satisfy myself, that the man who proposes it, is 
quite so sincere as he pretends to be. You at least, Mr. Wilkes, 
should have shown more temper and prudence, and a better 
knowledge of mankind. No personal respects whatsoever 
should have persuaded you to concur in these ridiculous resolu- 
tions. But my own zeal, I perceive, betrays me : I will endeavor 
to keep a better guard upon my temper, and apply to your 
judgment in the most cautious and measured language. 

I object, in the first place, to the bulk, and much more to the 
style of your resolutions of the 23d of July ;* though some part 



* A copy of which is subjoined, to enable the reader the better to understand 
Junius's objections to them. They are as follow : — 

London Tavern, July 23, 1771. 

SUPPORTERS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. 

SAVAGE BARRELL, ESQ. IN THE CHAIR. 

Resolved, That the preamble, with the articles reported this day from the com- 
mittee, be printed and published from this society. 

Whoever seriously considers the conduct of administration, both at home and 
abroad, can hardly entertain a doubt, that a plan is formed to subvert the con- 
stitution. 

In the same manner, whoever attentively examines into the proceedings of the 
present house of commons, must apprehend, that such another house for seven 
years, after the termination of the present parliament, would effectually accom- 
plish the views of the court, and leave no hope of redress but in an appeal to God. 

The Middlesex election, taken on its true ground ; the employment of the 
standing army, in St. George's Fields ; the granting half a million, without 
inquiring into the expenditure of the civil list money, and upon the dangerous 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 317 

of the preamble is as pointed as I could wish. You talk of your- 
selves with too much authority and importance. By assummg 
this false pomp and air of consequence, you either give general 
disgust, or what is infinitely more dangerous, you expose your- 



priiiciple of considering the debts of the civil Ust as the debts of the nation ; and 
encroaching, to discharge them, upon the sinking fund, the great support of 
pubhc credit ; the attempts made on juries, the last sacred bulwark of hberty and 
law ; the arbitrary and venal hand vrith wliicli government is conducted in 
Ireland ; the new and most unconstitutional mode of raising a revenue on the 
people of America, without asking the consent of their representatives; the in- 
troduction of an universal excise in America, instead of the laws of customs ; the 
advancing the military above the civil power, and employing troops to awe the 
legislature: — All these are measures of so marked, so mischievous a nature, that 
it is impossible they should be unfelt or misunderstood : yet these are measures 
which the house of commons have acquiesced in, countenanced, or executed. 

If the present house of commons then have given such vital wounds to the con- 
stitution, who is it can doubt, who is it can hope, that the conduct of such another 
house, vidll not be mortal to our liberties ? 

The trustees of the people should be pure of all interested communication with 
the court or its ministers ; yet the corrupt correspondence between the members 
of the house and the court is as notorious now as it is abhorrent from every great 
and good purpose of their institution. Placemen, pensioners, contractors and 
receivers of lottery tickets, abound to such a degree in the house of commons, that 
it is impossible a house so constituted can do their duty to the people. 

It must be plain to the most common apprehension, that men deputed by the 
people, to watch over and guard their rights against the crown and its ministers, 
and for that purpose, vested with tlie transcendent powers of refusing aid to the 
one, and impeaching the other, can never duly exercise those powers, or fulfil the 
intention of their election, if they are kept in pay of that crown and those minis- 
ters. What is the plain and inevitable consequence then of entrusting such men 
with the guardianship of our rights, but that our rights must be betrayed and 
violated ? Thus we have seen a house of commons infringing, as the court had 
pre-ordained, the sacred birthright of the people in the freedom of election , erasing 
a judicial record ; committing to the tower, and threatening with impeachment, 
the friends of the people, and the defenders of the law ; wliile the favorites of the 
court are suffered to sport with the laws, and trample on the constitution, not 
only with impunity, but with approbation ; curbing the people rigorously, and 
without feehng ; while they uphold ministers, who are abhorred by the nation, 
in the most dangerous and alarming exertions of power ; granting money with 
the most liberal, the most licentious hand to those ministers against whom the 
voice of the people calls loudly for impeachment. We have a suspecting people, 
and a confiding representative ; a complaining people, and an exulting repre- 
sentative ; a remonstrating people, and an addressing adulating representative, — 
a representative, that is an engine of oppression in the hand of the crown, instead 
of being a grand controlling inquest in favor of the people. Such a representative 



318 CORRESPONDENCE. 

selves to be laughed at. The English are a fastidious people, and 
will not submit to be talked to in so high a tone, by a set of 
private gentlemen, of vv^hom they know nothing, but that they 
call themselves Supporters of the Bill of Rights. There are 



is a monster in the constitution, which must fill every considerate man with 
grief, alarm, astonishment, and indignation. 

It is corruption that has engendered, nursed, and nourished this monster. 
Against such corruption, then, all men, who value tlie preservation of their dear- 
est rights, are called upon to unite. Let us remember, that we ourselves, our 
cliildren, and our posterity, must be freemen or slaves ; as we preserve or pros- 
titute the noble birthright our ancestors bequeathed us : for should this corrup- 
tion be once firmly rooted, we shall bean undone people. 

Already is it fixed among the representatives, and we taste, a thousand ways, 
the bitter fruit which it produces ; should it extend equally to the electors, we must 
fall, as Greece and Rome have fallen, by the same means, from the same liberty 
and glory, to slavery, contempt, and wretchedness. 

Impressed with these ideas, the gentlemen who compose the society of the 
Bill of Rights, have determined to use their utmost endeavors to exterminate this 
corruption, by providing for the freedom of election, the equal representation of 
the people, the integrity of the representative, and the redress of grievances. It 
is their great wish to render the house of commons what it constitutionally ought 
to be, the temple of liberty. With these views they have drawn up the following 
articles, which they now submit to the electors of Great Britain. At the same 
time they, with great deference, talce the liberty of recommending to the inde- 
pendent electors to form those articles into a solemn declaration, wliich the can- 
didates, whom they support, shall be required as the indispensable condition of 
their being supported to sign and seal, publicly, at the general meeting, or at the 
place of election, binding themselves, by oath, to a due and sacred observance of 
what is therein contained. 

The declaration so executed, may be deposited in the hands of the coroner, 
clerk of the peace, or magistrate before whom the oath was made, as a public 
memorial of what the constituent has demanded, and the representative has 
pledged himself to perform. 

1. You shall consent to no supplies, without a previous redress of grievances. 

2. You shall promote a law, subjecting each candidate to an oath, against having 
used bribery, or any other illegal means of compassing his election. 

3. You shall promote, to the utmost of your power, a full and equal represen- 
tation of the people in parliament. 

4. You shall endeavor to restore annual parhaments. 

5. You shall promote a pension and place-bill, enacting, That any member 
who receives a place, pension, contract, lottery ticket, or any other emolument 
whatsoever from the crown, or enjoys profit from any such place, pension, &c. 
shall not only vacate his seat, but be absolutely ineligible during his continuance 
imdev such undue influence. 

?, You shall impeach the ministers who advised the violating the right of the 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 319 

questions, which, in good policy, you should never provoke the 
people in general to ask themselves. At the same time, sir, I am 
far from meaning to undervalue the institution of this society. 
On the contrary, I think the plan was admirable ; that it has 
already been of signal service to the public, and may be of much 
greater ; and I do most earnestly wish, that you would consider 
of, and promote a plan for forming constitutional clubs all 
thi'ough the kingdom. A measure of this kind would alarm 
government more, and be of more essential service to the cause, 
than any thing that can be done relative to new-modelling the 
house of commons. You see then, that my objections are 
directed to the particular measure, not to the general institution. 
In the consideration of this measure, my first objection goes 
to the declared purpose of the resolutions, in the terms and 
mode in which you have described it, viz. the extermination of 
corruption. In my opinion, you grasp at the impossible, and 
lose the really attainable. Without plaguing you or myself with 
a logical argument upon a speculative question, I willingly 
appeal to your own candor and judgment. Can any man in 
his senses affirm, that, as things are now circumstanced in this 
country, it is possible to exterminate corruption? Do you 
seriously think it possible to carry through both houses such a 
place-bill as you describe in the fifth article ; or, supposing it 
carried, that it wouldnot be evaded ? When you talk of contracts 



freeholders in the Middlesex election ; and the military murders in St. George's 
Fields. 

7. ¥ou shall make strict inquiry into the conduct of judges touching juries. 

8. You shall make strict inquiry into the apphcation of the public money. 

9 You shall use your utmost endeavors to have the resolution of the house of 
commons expunged, by which the magistrates of the city of London were arbitrn 
rily imprisoned, for strictly adhering to their charter and their oaths ; and also 
that resolution by wliich a judicial record was erased to stop the course of justice, 

10. You shall attend to the grievances of our fellow-subjects in Ireland, and 
second the complaints they may bring to the throne. 

11. You shall endeavor to restore to America the essential right of taxation 
by representatives of their own free election ; repeahng the acts passed in 
violation of that right, since the year 1763 ; and the imiversai excise, so noto- 
riously incompatible with every principle of British liberty, which has been latel}' 
substituted, in the colonies, for the laws of customs. 

SAVAGE BARRELL, Esq. Chairmaii 



320 CORRESPONDENCE. 

and lotteiy tickets, do you think that any human law can really 
prevent their being distributed and accepted, or do you only 
intend to mortify Townshend and Harley ? Tn short, sir, would 
you, bona fide, and as a man of honor, give it for your expecta- 
tion and opinion, that there is a single county or borough in the 
kingdom, that will form the declaration recommended to them 
in these resolutions, and enforce it upon the candidates ? For 
myself, I will tell you freely, not what I think, but what I know ; 
the resolutions are either totally neglected in the country,* or, 
if read, are laughed at, and by people who mean as well to the 
cause as any of us. 

With regard to the articles taken separately, I own I am 
concerned to see that the great condition, which ought to be 
the sine qua non of parliamentary qualification, which ought to 
be the basis, as it assuredly will be the only support, of every 
barrier raised in defence of the constitution ; I mean a decla- 
tion upon oath to shorten the duration of parliaments, is reduced 
to the fourth rank in the esteem of the Society, and even in 
that place, far from being insisted on with firmness and vehe- 
mence, seems to have been particularly slighted in the expres- 
sion, you shall endeavor to restore annual parliaments. Are these 
the terms which men who are in earnest make use of, when the 
salus reipubliccs is at stake ! I expected other language from Mr. 
Wilkes. Besides my objection in point of form, I disapprove 
liighly of the meaning of the fourth article, as it stands : — When- 
ever the question shall be seriously agitated, I will endeavor 
(and if I live will assuredly attempt it) to convince the English 
nation, by arguments, to my understanding unanswerable, that 
they ought to insist upon a triennial, and banish the idea of an 
annual parliament. 

Article 1. The terms of the first article would have been 
very proper a century or two ago, but they are not adapted to 
the present state of the constitution. The king does not act 
directly either in imposing or redressing grievances. We need 
not now bribe the crown to do us justice ; and, as to the refusal 
of supplies, we might punish ourselves indeed, but it would be 



Mv, Hoinc resided in the country. 



JUJXIUS xVND WILKES. 



321 



no way compulsory upon the king. With respect to liis civil 
list, he is already independent, or might be so, if he has common 
sense, or common resolution : and as for refusing to vote the 
army or navy, I hope we shall never be mad enough to try an 
experiment every way so hazardous. But, in fact, the effort 
would be infinitely too great for the occasion. All we want is 
an honest representative, or at least such a one as will have 
some respect for the constituent body. Formerly the house of 
commons were compelled to bargain with the sovereign. At 
present they may prescribe their own conditions. So much, 
in general, for grievances : as to particular grievances, almost all 
those we complain of are, apparently, the acts either of the 
lords or the commons. The appointment of unworthy ministers, 
is not strictly a grievance, (that is, a legal subject of complaint 
to the king) until those ministers are arraigned and convicted in 
due course of law. If, after that, the king should persist in 
keeping them in office, it would be a grievance in the strict, 
legal sense of the word, and would undoubtedly justify rebel- 
lion according to the forms, as well as the spirit of the constitu- 
tion. I am far from condemning the late addresses to the throne. 
They ought to be incessantly repeated. The people, by the 
singular situation of their affairs, are compelled to do the duty 
of the house of commons. 

Article 2. I object to the second aiticle, because I think that 
multiplying oaths is only multiplying perjury. Besides this, I 
am satisfied that, with a triennial parliament (and without it all 
other provisions are nugatory) Mr. Grenville's bill is, or may be 
made, a sufficient guard against any gross, or flagrant offences, 
in this way. 

Article 3. The terms of the third article are too loose and 
indefinite to make a distinct or serious impression. That the 
people are not equally and fully represented is unquestionable. 
But let us take care what we attempt. We may demolish the 
venerable fabric we intend to repair ; and where is the strength 
and virtue to erect a better in its stead ? I should not for my 
own part, be so much moved at the corrupt and odious prac- 
tices.by which inconsiderable men get into parliament : nor even 

41 



322 



CORRESPONJBEXCE. 



at the want of a perfect representation, (and certainly nothing 
can be less reconcileable to the theory, than the present practice 
of the constitution) if means could be found to compel such men 
to do their duty (in essentials at least) when they are in parlia- 
ment. Now, sir, I am convinced that, if shortening the dura- 
tion of parliaments (which in effect is keeping the representative 
under the rod of the constituent) be not made the basis of our 
new parliamentary jurisprudence, other checks or improvements 
signify nothing. On the contrary, if this be made the founda- 
tion, other measures may come in aid, and, as auxiliaries, be of 
considerable advantage. Lord Chatham's project, for instance, 
of increasing the number of knights of shires, appears to me 
admirable, and the moment we have obtained a triennial parlia- 
ment, it ought to be tried. As to cutting away the rotten 
boroughs, I am as much offended as any man at seeing so many 
of them under the direct influence of the crown, or at the 
disposal of private persons, yet I own I have both doubts and 
apprehensions, in regard to the remedy you propose. I shall 
be charged, perhaps, with an unusual want of political intrepi- 
dity, when I honestly confess to you, that I am startled at the 
idea of so extensive an amputation. In the first place, I ques- 
tion the power de jure of the legislature to disfranchise a number 
of boroughs upon the general ground of improving the consti- 
tution. There cannot be a doctrine more fatal to the liberty 
and property we are contending for, than that which confounds 
the idea of a supreme and an arbitrary legislature. I need not 
point out to you, the fatal purposes to which it has been, and 
may be apphed. If we are sincere in the political creed we 
profess, there are many things which we ought to affirm, cannot 
be done by king, lords, and commons. Among these I reckon 
the disfranchising a borough with a general view to improve- 
ment. I consider it as equivalent to robbing the parties con- 
cerned, of their freehold, of their birthright. I say, that although 
this birthright may be forfeited, or the exercise of it suspended 
in particular cases, it cannot be taken away by a general law, 
for any real or pretended purpose of improving the constitution. 
I believe there is no power in this country to make such a law. 



JUNIUS ANO WILKES« 



333 



Supposing the attempt made, I am persuaded you cannot mean 
that either king or lords should take an active part in it. A 
bill, which only touches the representation of the people, must 
originate in the house of commons, in the formation and mode 
of passing it. The exclusive right of the commons must be 
asserted as scrupulously as in the case of a Money Bill. Now, 
sir, I should be glad to know l)y what kind of reasoning it can 
be proved, that there is a power vested in the representative to 
destroy his immediate constituent: from whence could he 
possibly derive it ? A courtier, I know, will be ready enough 
to maintain the affirmative. The doctrine suits him exactly, 
because it gives an unlimited operation to the influence of the 
crown. But we, Mr. Wilkes, must hold a different language. 
It is no answer to me to say, that the bill, when it passes the 
house of commons, is the act of the majority, and not of the 
representatives of the particular boroughs concerned. If the 
majority can disfranchise ten boroughs, why not twenty ? Why 
not the whole kingdom ? Why should not they make their own 
seats in parliament for life ? When the Septennial Act passed, 
the legislature did what apparently and palpably they had no 
power to do ; but they did more than people in general were 
aware of; they disfranchised the whole kingdom for four years. 
For argument's salie, I will now suppose, that the expediency of 
the measure, and the power of parliament, were unquestionable. 
Stiii you will find an insurmountable difficulty in the execution. 
When all your instruments of amputation are prepared -when 
the unhappy patient lies bound at your feet, without the possi- 
bility of resistance, by what infallible rule will you direct the 
operation ? When you propose to cut away the rotten parts, 
can you tell us what parts are perfectly sound ? Are there any 
certain limits, m fact or theory, to inform you at what point you 
must stop — at what point the mortification ends ? To a man 
so capable of observation and reflection as you are, it is unne- 
cessary to say all that might be said upon the subject. Besides 
that I approve highly of lord Chatham's idea of " infusing a 
portion of new health into the constitution to enable it to bear 
its infirmities," (a brilliant expression, and full of intrinsic 
wisdom,) other reasons concur in persuading me to adopt if. I 



324 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



have no objection* to paying him such compliments as carry u 
condition with them, and either hind him firmly to the cause, or 
become the bitterest reproach to him if he deserts it. Of this 
last I have not the most distant suspicion. There is another 
man, indeed, with whose conduct I am not so completely satis- 
fied. Yet even he, I think, has not resolution enough to do any 
thing flagrantly impudent in the face of his country. At the 
same time that I think it good policy to pay those compliments 
to lord Chatham, which in truth, he has nobly desei'ved, I should 
be glad to mortify those contemptible creatures, who call them- 
selves noblemen, whose worthless importance depends entirely 
upon their influence over boroughs, which cannot be safely 
diminished, but by increasing the power of the counties at large. 
Among these men, I cannot but distinguish the meanest of the 
human species, the whole race of the Conways. I have but 
one word to add, — I would not give representatives to those 
great trading towns, which have none at present. If the 
merchant and the manufacturer must be really represented, let 
them become freeholders by their industry, and let the repre- 
sentation of the county be increased. You will find the inter- 
ruption of business in those towns, by the triennial riot and 
cabals of an election, too deai' a price for the nugatory privilege 
of sending members to parliament. 

The remaining articles will not require a long discussion : — of 
the fourth and fifth I have spoken already. 

Article 6. The measures recommended in the sixth are 
unexceptionable. My only doubt is, how can an act apparently 
done by the house of commons be fixed, by sufficient legal 
evidence, upon the duke of Grafton or lord North, of whose 



* In the author's edition of the letters, there is subjoined an extract from this 
letter to Wilkes, ending with, " I have no objection, &c." What immediately 
followed was not calculated for the public eye, at that time ; because it would 
have exposed the double game played off by Junius in his letter to Home 
respecting lord Chatham ; and since its publication, it seems to have been passed 
by without notice, although it completely unveils the hypocrisy practised in this 
ease. The passage in that edition which follows the words quoted above, was 
TkT>t contained in the letter to Wilkes. 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 



325 



guilt I am nevertheless completely satisfied. As for lord 
Weymouth and lord Barrington, their own letters are a sufficient 
ground of impeachment. 

Article 7. The seventh article is also very proper and neces- 
sary. The impeachment of lord Mansfield, upon his own paper is 
indispensable. Yet suffer me to guard you against the seducing 
idea of concurring in any vote, or encouraging any bill, which 
may pretend to ascertain, while in reality it limits the consti- 
tutional power of juries. I would have their right, to return a 
general verdict in all cases whatsoever, considered as a part of 
the constitution, fundamental, sacred, and no more questionable 
by the legislature, than whether the government of the country 
shall be by king, lords, and commons. Upon this point, an 
Enacting Bill would be pernicious ; a Declaratory Bill, to say 
the best of it, useless. 

Article 8. I think the eighth article would be more properly 
expressed thus : You shall grant no money, unless for services 
known to, and approved of, hy parliament. In general the sup- 
plies are appropriated, and cannot easily be misapplied. The 
house of commons are indeed too ready in granting large sums 
under the head of extraordinaries incurred, and not provided for. 
But the accounts lie before them ; — it is their own fault if they 
do not examine them. The manner in which the late debt 
upon the civil list was pretended to be incurred, and really paid, 
demands a particular examination. Never was there a more 
impudent outrage offered to a patient people. 

Article 9. The ninth is indispensable ; but I think the matter 
of it rather fit for instruction than for the declaration you have 
in view. I am very apprehensive of clogging the declaration, 
and making it too long. 

Articles 10 and 11. In the tenth and eleventh you are very 
civil to Ireland and America ; and if you mean nothing but 
ostentation, it may possibly answer your purpose. Your care 
of Ireland is much to be commended. But, I think, in good 
policy, you may as well complete a reformation at home, before 
you attempt to carry your improvements to such a distance. 
Clearing the fountain is the best and shortest way to purify the 
stream. As to taxing the Americans by their own representa- 



3;2b COKKESfONDENCE. 

lives, I confess I do not perfectly understand you. If you pro- 
pose that, in the article of taxation, they should hereafter be left 
to the authorit) of their respective assemblies, I must own I 
think you had no business to revive a question which should, 
and probably would, have lain dormant for ever. If you mean 
that the Americans should be authorised to send their repre- 
sentatives to the British parliament, I shall be contented with 
referring you to what Mr. Burke has said upon this subject, and 
will not venture to add any thing of my own, for fear of dis- 
covering an offensive disregard of your opinion. Since the 
repeal of the Stamp Act, I know of no acts tending to tax 
the Americans, except that which creates the tea duty ; and 
even that can hardly be called internal. Yet it ought to be 
repealed, as an impolitic act, not as an oppressive one. It 
preserves the contention between the mother country and the 
colonies, when every thing worth contending for is in reality 
given up. When this act is repealed, I presume you will turn 
your thoughts to the postage of letters ; a tax imposed by 
authority of parliament, and levied in the very heart of the 
colonies. I am not sufficiently informed upon the subject of that 
excise, which you say is substituted in North America to the 
laws of customs, to deliver such an opinion upon it as I would 
abide by. Yet I can easily comprehend, that admitting the 
necessity of raising a revenue for the support of government 
there, any other revenue laws, but those of excise, would be 
nugatory in such a country as America. I say this with great 
diffidence as to the point in question, and with a positive protest 
against any conclusion from America to Great Britain. 

If these observations shall appear to deserve the attention 
of the Society, it is for them to consider what use may be 
made of them. I know how difficult and irksome it is to tread 
back the steps we have taken ; yet, if any part of what I have 
submitted to you carries reason and conviction with it, I hope 
that no false shame will influence our friends at the London 
Tavern. 

I do not deny that I expect my opinions upon these points 
should have some degree of weight with you. I have served 
Mr. Wilkes, and am still capable of servmg him. I have 



JUNIUS A]\D WILKES. 



321 



I'aithfully served the public, without the possibiUty of a personal 
advantage. As Junius, I can never expect to be rewarded. — 
The secret is too important to be committed to any great man's 
discretion. If views of interest or ambition could tempt me 
to betray my own secret, how could I flatter myself that the 
man 1 trusted would not act upon the same principles, and 
sacrifice me at once to the king's curiosity and resentment ? 
Speaking therefore as a disinterested man, I have a claim to 
your attention. Let my opinions be fairly examined. 

JUNIUS. 

P. S. As you will probably never hear from me again, I will 
not omit this opportunity of observing to you, that I am not 
properly supported in the newspapers.* One would think that 
all the fools were of the other side of the question. As to 
myself it is of little moment. I can brush away the swarming 
insects whenever I think proper. But it is bad policy to let it 
appear, in any instance, that we have not numbers as well as 
justice of our side. I wish you would contrive that the receipt 
of this letter and my last, might be barely acknowledged by a 
hint in the Public Advertiser. 

Letter III. 

Princess Court, Monday, Sep. 9, 1771. 
Mr. Wilkes had the honor of receiving from the same 
gentleman two excellent letters on important subjects, one 
dated Aug. 2 1st, the other Sep. 7th. He begs the favor of the 
author to prescribe the mode of Mr. Wilkes's communicating 
his answer. 

Letter IV. 

10 Sept. 1771. 

You may intrust Woodfall with a letter for me. Leave the 
rest to iiis management. 

I expect that you will not enter into any explanation, with 
him whatsoever.! 



* What had become of his old fellow-laborer, John Home? He did not use to 
be idle. 

i Mr. Wilkes has written on it, " Received by the penny post." 



'}|28 CORUESPONDENOK. 

Letter V. To Junius. 

Sep. 12,1771. 

Sir, — I do not mean to indulge the impertinent curiosity of 
finding out the most important secret of our times, the author 
of Junius. I will not attempt with profane hands to tear the 
sacred veil of the sanctuary ; I am disposed with the inhabitants 
of Attica, to erect an altar to the unhwwn god of our political 
idolatry, and will be content to worship him in clouds and dark- 
ness. 

This very circumstance, however, deeply embarrasses me. 
The first letter with which I was honored by Junius, called for 
a thousand anecdotes of Crosby, Sawbridge, and Townshend, 
too tedious, too minute, to throw upon paper, which yet must 
be acted upon, and as he well knows, mark the character of 
men. Junius has in my idea too favorable sentiments of Saw- 
bridge. I allow him honest, but think he has more mulishness 
than understanding, more understanding than candour. He is 
become the absolute dupe of Malagrida's gang. He has de- 
clared, that if he was chosen mayor this year, he would not 
serve the office, but fine, because Townshend ought to be mayor. 
Such a declaration is certain, and in my opinion it borders on 
insanity. To me Sawbridge complained the last year that his 
sheriffalty passed in a continual secret cabal of Beckford, 
Townshend and Home, without the communication of any 
thing to him till the moment of execution. Sawbridge has 
openly acted against us. Our troops will not be brought at 
present to fight his battles. Mrs. Macauley has warmly espoused 
the common cause, and severely condemns her brother. Any 
overtures to Sawbridge, I beheve, would have been rejected, 
perhaps treated with contempt, by not the best bred man in the 
island. How could I begin a negotiation when I was already 
pledged to Crosby, who has fed himself with the hope of that 
and the membership, by which I overcame his natural timidity ? 
Junius sees the confidence I place in him. Could there be a 
prospect of any cordiality between Sawbridge and the popular 
party, at least so soon as his mayoralty ? I should fear the 
Mansion Honso would be besieged, and taken by the banditti 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. ^^*29 

of the Shelburnes. But what I am sure will be decisive to 
Junius, I was engaged to Crosby before I received the letter of 
Aug. 21, and I have not since found in him the least inclination 
to yield the favorite point. The membership of the city is a 
security to the public for his steadiness in the cause. Surely 
then it would have been imprudent to have wished a change. 
My duty to the people only makes me form a wish for Crosby. 
To make Crosby mayor, it is necessary to return to the court 
of aldermen another man so obnoxious that it is impossible for 
them to elect him. Bridgen I take to be this man. While he 
presided in the city he tr-^ated them with insolence, was exceed- 
ingly rude and scurrilous to them personally, starved them at 
the few entertainments he gave, and pocketed the city cash. 
As he has always voted on the popular side, we are justified 
to the livery in the recommendation of him, and the rest will 
be guessed. Crosby will probably be the locum tenens of 
Bridgen, if Bridgen is elected. I wrote the letter on this 
subject in the Public Advertiser of Sep. 5. The argument there 
is specious, although my private opinion is, the house of com- 
mons will not again fall into that snare. Into another I am 
satisfied they w^ill. The house of lords too will, I think, furnish 
a most interesting scene, in consequence of the powers they 
usurp, and the sheriifmeans the attack. I wish this great business, 
as I have projected it, could be unravelled in a letter or two to 
Junius, but the detail is too long and intricate. How greatly is 
it to be lamented that the few real friends of the public have so 
little communication of counsels, so few and only distant means 
of a reserved intercourse ! 

I have no where met with more excellent and abundant 
political matter than in the letter of Junius respecting the Bill 
of Rights. He ought to know from me, that the American 
Dr. Lee (the Gazetteer's Junius Amcricanus) was the author 
of the too long preamble, articles, &c. They were, indeed, 
submitted to me on the morning of the day on which they 
passed, but I made few corrections. I dislike the extreme 
verbiage of every part, and wished the whole put again on the 
anvil. Sir Joseph Mawbey and I were of opinion to adjourn 
the business for a reconsideration, but the majority of the 

42 



330 tJORRESPONiiENCi;. 

members were too impatient to have something go forth in their 
ftames to the pubhc. It would have been highly imprudent in 
sir Joseph or me to thwart them in so favorite a point, and the 
substance I indeed greatly approve. At all times I hate taking 
in other people's foul linen to wash. The Society of the Bill 
of Rights have been called my committee, and it has been said 
that they were governed entirely by me. This has spread a 
jealousy even among my friends. I was therefore necessitated 
to act the most cautious and prudent part. You cannot always 
do all the good you wish, and you are sometimes reduced to the 
necessity of yielding in a particular moment to conciliate the 
doubtful, the peevish, or the refractory. Junius may be assur- 
ed that I will warmly recommend the formation of constitu- 
tional clubs in several parts of the kingdom. I am satisfied 
that nothing would more alarm the ministry. I agree that the 
shortening the duration of parliaments is the first and most 
important of all considerations, without which all the rest would 
be nugatory; but I am unhappy to differ with Junius in so 
essential a point as that of triennial parliaments. They are in- 
adequate to the cure of destroying dependence in the members 
on the crown. They only lessen not root out corruption, and 
only reduce the purchase money for an annuity of three instead 
of seven years. I have a thousand arguments against triennial 
and in favor of annual parliaments. The question was fairly 
agitated at the London Tavern, and several of your friends 
owned that they were convinced. The subject is too copious 
for a letter. I hope to read Junius's mature and deliberate 
thoughts on this subject. I own that in the house of commons 
sound policy would rather favor triennial parliaments as the 
necessary road to annual, but the constitutional question is 
different. 

I am sorry likewise to differ with Junius as to the power de 
jure of the legislature to disfranchise any boroughs. How 
originated the right, and why was it granted ? Old Sarum and 
Gatton, for instance, were populous places, when the right of 
representation was first given them. They are now desolate, 
and therefore in every thing should return to their former state. 
A barren mountain or a single farm-house can have no repre- 



JUNIUS A\I> WILKE.S. 331 

sentation in parliament. I exceedingly approve lord Chatham's 
idea of increasing the number of knights of shires. If parlia- 
ments are not annual, I should not disapprove of a third part of 
the legislative body going out every year by ballot, and of con- 
sequence an annual re-election in part. 

1 am so much harrassed with business at present, that I have 
not time to mention many particulars of importance, and these 
three days I have had the shivering fits of a slow lurking fever, 
a strange disorder for Wilkes, which makes writing painful to 
me. I could plunge the patriot dagger in the heart of the tyrant 
of my country, but my hand would now tremble in doing it. 
In general I enjoy settled confirmed health, to which I have 
for some years paid great attention, chiefly from public views. 

I am satisfied that Junius now means me well, and I wish to 
merit more than his regard his friendship. He has poured 
halm into my wounds, the deepest of which I sigh when I 
recollect, were made by that now friendly hand. I am always 
ready to kiss his rod, but I hope its destination is changed, and 
that it will never again fall as heavy upon me as towards the 
conclusion of the year 1769, when Thurlow said sneeringly, 
the government prosecuted Junius out of compHment to Wilkes. 
I warmly wish Junius my friend. As a public man I think 
myself secure of his support, for I will only depend on popular 
favor, and pursue only the true constitutional points of liberty. 
As a private person I figure to myself that Junius is as amiable 
in the private as he is great in the public walk of life. I now 
live very much at home, happy in the elegant society of a 
sensible daughter, whom Junius has noticed in the most oblig- 
ing manner. 

I have not had a moment's conversation with Woodfall on the 
subject of our correspondence, nor did I mean to mention it to 
him. All he can guess, will be from the following card, which I 
shall send by my servant with this letter. " Mr. Wilkes, presents 
his compliments to Mr. Woodfall, and desires him to direct and 
forward the enclosed to Junius." After the first letter of Junius 
to me, I did not go to Woodfall to pry into a secret I had no 
right to know. The letter itself bore the stamp of Jove. I was 
neither doubting nor impertinent. I wish to comply with every 



332 CORRESPOADENCli. 

direction of Junius, to profit by his hints, and to have the per- 
mission of writing to him on any important occasion. I desire 
to assure him, that in all great public concerns, I am perfectly 
free from every personality either of dislike or affection. The 
Stoic apathy is then really mine. 

Lord Chatham said to me ten years ago, "****** is the 
falsest hypocrite in Europe." I must hate the man as much as 
even Junius can, for through this whole reign almost it has been 
********* versus Wilkes. This conduct will probably 
make it Wilkes versus ******** *,-j- Junius must 
imagine that no man in the island feels what he writes on that 
occasion more than I do. 

This letter is an emanation of the heart, not an effort of the 
head. It claims attention from the honest zeal and sincerity of 
the writer, whose affection for his country will end only with his 
life. JOHN WILKES. 

Letter VI. To John Willes, Esq.* 

London, 18th September, 1771. 

Sir, — Your letter of the 12th instant was carefully conveyed 
to me. I am much flattered, as you politely intended I should 
be, with the worship you are pleased to pay to the unknown 
god of pohtics. I find I am treated as other gods usually are 
by their votaries, with sacrifice and ceremony in abundance, and 
very little obedience. The profession of your faith is unexcep- 
tionable ; but I am a modest deity, and should be full as well 
satisfied with good works and morality. 

There is a rule in business that would save much time if it 
were generally adopted. A question once decided is no longer 
a subject of argument. You have taken your resolution about 
the mayoralty. What I have now to say is not meant to alter 
it, but, in perfect good humour, to guard you against some in- 
conveniences, which may attend the execution. It is your own 
affair, and though I still think you have chosen injudiciously, 
both for yourself and for the public, I have no right to find fault 

•f The first blank is intended for George — the other two for George Rex. — .Am. 
Ed. 

i Written on by him " Received Monday afternoon.. September 18. 1771." 



JLMLS AND WILKES. 333 

or to tease you with reflections, which cannot divert you from 
your purpose. 

I cannot comprehend the reason of Mr. Crosby's eagerness 
to be lord mayor, unless he proposes to disgrace the office and 
himself by pocketing the salary. In that case he will create a 
disgust among the citizens, of which you and your party will 
feel the bad effects, and as for himself, he may bid adieu to all 
hopes of being returned for the city. That he should live with 
unusual splendor is essentially your interest and his own ; and 
even then I do not perceive that his merits are so distinguished 
as to entitle him to a double reward. Of the dignity or authority 
of a locum tenens, I know nothing ; nor can I conceive what 
credit Mr. Crosby is likely to derive from representing Mr. 
Bridgen. But suppose Bridgen should be lord mayor, and 
should keep his word in appointing Crosby his lieutenant, I 
should be glad to know who is to support the expense and 
dignity of the office ? It may suit such a fellow as Bridgen to 
shut up the Mansion-house, but I promise you his economy 
will be of no service to Mr. Wilkes. If you make him mayor, 
you will be made answerable for his conduct ; and if he and 
Crosby be returned, you may depend upon it, the court of 
aldermen will choose him. 

With regard to Mr. Sawbridge, since I cannot prevail with 
you to lay the foundation of a closer union between you by any 
positive sacrifice in his favor, at least let me entreat you to 
observe a moderate and guarded conduct towards him. I 
should be much concerned to see his character traduced, or his 
person insulted. He is not a dupe to any set of men whatso- 
ever, nor do I think he has taken any violent or decided part 
against you. — Yet to be excluded from those honors which are 
the only rewards he pretends to, and to which he is so justly 
entitled, and to see them bestowed upon such men as Crosby 
and Bridgen, is enough to excite and justify his resentment. All 
this, sir, is a matter of convenience, which I hope you will con- 
sider. There is another point, upon which I must be much 
more serious and earnest with you. You seem to have no 
anxiety or apprehension but lest the friends of lord Shelburne 
should get possession of the Mansion-house. In my opinion 



334 CORRESPONDENCE. 

they have no chance of success whatsoever. The real danger 
is from the interest of government, from Harley, and the 
Tories. — If w^hile you are employed in counteracting Mr. 
Townshend, a ministerial alderman should be returned, you will 
have ruined the cause. — You will have ruined yourself, and for 
ever. To say that Junius could never forgive you, is nothing ; — 
you could never forgive yourself. — Junius from that moment will 
be compelled to consider you as a man who has sacrificed the 
public to views which were every way unworthy of you. If 
then, upon a fair canvass of the livery, you should see a probabi- 
lity that Bridgen may not be returned, let that point be given 
up at once, and let Sawbridge be returned with Crosby ; — a 
more likely way in tny judgment to make Crosby lord mayor. 

Nothing can do you greater honor, nor be of greater benefit 
to the community, than your intended attack upon the uncon- 
stitutional powers assumed by the house of lords. You have 
my warmest applause ; and if I can assist, command my 
assistance. The arbitrary power of fine and imprisonment, 
assumed by these men, would be a disgrace to any form of 
legal government not purely aristocratical. — Directly, it invades 
the laws, indirectly, it saps the constitution. Naturally phleg- 
matic,* these questions warm me. — I envy you the laurels you 
will acquire. Banish the thought that Junius can make a dis- 
honorable or an imprudent use of the confidence you repose in 
him. When you have leisure, communicate your plan to me, 
that I may have time to examine it, and to consider what part 
I can act with greatest advantage to the cause. The constitu- 
tional argument is obvious. I wish you to point out to me 
where you think the force of the formal legal argument lies. 
In pursuing such inquiries I lie under a singular disadvantage. 
Not venturing to consult those who are qualified to inform me, 
I am forced to collect every thing from books or common con- 
versation. The pains I took with that paper on privilege, were 
greater than I can express to you. Yet after I had bhnded my- 
self with poring over journals, debates, and parliamentary his- 

* This was a charge frequently brought against Home by Wilkes, which, no 
doubt, caused this remark by the writer. 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 335 

tory, I was at last obliged to hazard a bold assertion, which I 
am now convinced is true (as I really then thought it,) because 
it has not been disproved or disputed. — There is this material 
difference upon the face of the two questions. We can clearly 
show a time when the lower house had not an unlimited power 
of commitment for breach of privilege. Whereas I fear we 
shall not have the same advantage over the house of lords. It 
it is not that precedents have any weight with me in opposition 
to principles : but I know they weigh with the multitude.* 

My opinion of the several articles of the proposed declara- 
tion remains unaltered. I cannot pretend to answer those 
arguments in favor of annual parliaments, by which you say 
the friends of Junius were convinced. The question is not 
what is best in theory (for there I should undoubtedly agree 
with you,) but what is most expedient in practice. You labor 
to carry the constitution to a point of perfection which it can 
never reach to, or at which it cannot long be stationary. In 
this idea I tliink I see the mistake of a speculative man, who is 
either not conversant with the world, or not sufficiently per- 
suaded of the necessity of taking things as they are. The 
objection drawn from the purchase of an annuity for three 
years instead of seven, is defective, because it apphes in the 
same proportion to an annuity for one year. This is not the 
question. The point is to keep the representative as much 
under the check and control of the constituent, as can be done, 
consistently with other great and essential objects. But without 
entering farther into the debate, I would advise, that this part 
of the declaration be expressed in general terms ; viz. to shorten 
the duration of parliaments. This mediating expedient will, 
for the present, take in both opinions, and leave open ihe quan- 
tum of time to a future discussion. 

In answer to a general argument, by which the uncontrollable 
right of the people to form the third part of the legislature is 
defended, you urge against me two gross cases, which undoubt- 



■^ Mr. Home, in addressing the jury on his trial, in 1777, for an alleged libel 
against the government, said, " I have laid before you sacred principles with 
which I am much better acquainted than with any precedents — and for one of 
which I would willingly give im all the precedents that ever existed." 



o30 CORKESPONDENCJi. 

edly call i'or correction. These cases, you may believe, did 
not escape me, and by the by, admit of a particular answer. 
But it is not treating me fairly to oppose general principles with 
particular abuses. It is not in human policy to form an institu- 
tion from which no possible inconvenience shall arise. I did 
not pretend to deliver a doctrine, to which there could be no 
possible objection. We are to choose between better and 
worse. Let us come fairly to the point. — Whether is it safer 
to deny the legislature a power of disfranchising all the electors 
of a borough ; (which, if denied, entails a number of rotten 
boroughs upon the constitution) — or to admit the power, and 
so leave it with the legislature to disfranchise ad arhitrium every 
borough and county in the kingdom. If you deny the conse- 
quence, it will be incumbent upon you to prove hy positive 
reasoning that a power which holds in the case of Aylesbury 
or New Shoreham, does not hold in the case of York, London, 
or Middlesex. To this question I desire a direct answer ; and 
when we have fixed our principles, we may regularly descend 
to the detail. The case of Gatton and Old Sarum do not 
embarrass me. Their right to return members to parliament 
has neither fact or theory to support it. — " They have, bonafde, 
no electors." Consequently there is no man to be dispossessed 
of his freehold. No man to be disfrancliised of his right of 
election. At the worst, supposing the annihilation of these 
pretended boroughs could no way be reconciled to my own 
principles, I shall only say, give me a healthy, vigorous consti- 
tution, and I shall hardly consult my looking-glass to discover a 
blemish upon my skin. 

You ask me, from whence did the right originate, and for 
what purpose was it granted ? I do not see the tendency of 
these questions, but I answer them without scruple. In general 
it arose from the king's writs, and it was granted with a view to 
balance the power of the nobility, and to obtain aids from the 
people.' — But without looking back to an obscure antiquity, 
from which no certain information can be collected, you will 
find that the laws of England have much greater regard to 
possession (of a certain length) than to any other title whatso- 
ever ; and that in every kind of property which savours of the 



JUNIUS AND WILKEJ5. ^i37 

reality this doctrine is most wisely the basis of our Enghsh 
jurisprudence. Though I use the terms of art, do not injure 
me so much as to suspect I am a lawyer. — I had as lief be a 
Scotchman. — It is the encouragement given to disputes about 
titles, which has supported that iniquitous profession at the 
expense of the community. — As to this whole argument about 
rotten boroughs, if I seem zealous in supporting my opinion, it 
is not from a conception that the constitution cannot possibly be 
relieved from them — I mean only to reconcile you to an evil 
which cannot safely be removed. 

Now, Mr. Wilkes, I shall deal very plainly with you. The 
subject of my first letter was private and personal, and I am 
content it should be forgotten. Your letter to ?ne is also sacred. 
But my second letter is of public import, and must not be 
suppressed. I did not mean that it should be buried in Prince's 
Court. It would be unfair to embarrass you with a new ques- 
tion while your city election is depending. But if I perceive 
that within a reasonable time after that business is concluded, 
no steps are taken with the Bill of Rights to form a new, short, 
and rational declaration (whether by laying my letter before 
the society, or by any other mode that you shall think advisable,) 
I shall hold myself obligated, by a duty paramount to all other 
considerations, to institute an amicable suit against the societj' 
before the tribunal of the public. Without asperity, without 
petulance or disrespect, I propose to publish the second letter, 
and to answer or submit to argument. The necessity of 
taking this step will indeed give me pain, for I ivell know that 
differences between the advocates are of no service to the 
cause,* But the lives of the best of us are spent in choosing 
between evils. — As to you, sir, you may as well take the trouble 
of directing that society, since whatever they do is placed to 
jour account. 

The domestic society you speak of is much to be envied. I 
fancy I should like it still better than you do. I too am no 
enemy to good fellowship, and have often cursed that canting 

* This had been fully exemplified by the previous quarrel of the correspondenf ? 
-dm. Ed. 

hi 



S3S t OKKESPONDEKCK. 

parson lor wisliing to deny you your claret. It is for Aiwi, and 
men like Jiim, to beware of intoxication.* Though I do not 
place the little pleasure of life in competition with the glorious 
business of instructing and directing the people, yet I see no 
jeason why a wise man may not unite the public virtues of Cato, 
with the indulgence of Epicurus. 

Continue careful of your health. Your head is too useful to 
be spared, and your hand may be wanted. Think no more of 
what is past. You did not then stand so well in my opinion ; 
and it was necessary to the plan of that letter to rate you lower 
than you deserved. The wound is curable, and the scar shall 
be no disgrace to you. 

I willingly accept of as much of your friendship as you can 
impart, to a man whom you will assuredly never know. Besides 
every personal consideration, if I were known, I could no 
longer be a useful servant to the public. At present there is 
something oracular in the delivery of my opinions. I speak 
from a recess which no human curiosity can penetrate, and 
darkness, we are told, is one source of the sublime. — The 
mvstery of Junius increases his importance. 

JUNIUS- 

Letter VII. 

Prince's Court, Thursday, Sep. 1&. 
Mr. Wilkes thanks Mr. Woodfall for the care of the former 
letter, and desires him to transmit the enclosed to Junius. 

To Junius. 

Sep. 19,1771. 

Sir^ — 1 had last night the honor of your letter of yesterday's 
date. I am just going to the Common Hall, but first take up 
the pen to thank you for the kindness you express to me, and to 
say that the Bill of Rights meet next Tuesday. I thought it 
necessary not to lose a moment in giving you this information. 
ihat whatever you judge proper may be submitted to that so- 



=i Parson HurM.' He had, with more proprietj', been denominated the cardinal 
priest, from his attachment to cards. It is surprising that the grossness of tlie 
allusion had not convinced Wilkes of the joke. — Jim. Ed. 



JUNIUS AJ*D WILKES, 3!^ 

ciety as early as possible. Junius may command me in every 
thing. When he says " my second letter is of public import, 
and must not be suppressed. I did not mean that it should be 
buried in Prince's Court," — does he wish it should be commu- 
nicated to the society, and in what manner ? The beginning of 
the second letter refers to a first letter, and some other expres- 
sions may be improper for the knowledge of the society. I 
wait Junius's directions. I beg his free sentiments on all occa- 
sions. I mean next week to state a variety of particulars for 
Iiis consideration and in answer to his letter. I had now only 
a moment to mention a point of business and a feeling of grati- 
tude. JOHN WILKES. 

Letter VIIL 

21 September, 1771.* 

8ir, — Since you are so obliging as to say, you will be guided 
by my opinion as to the manner of laying my sentiments before 
the Bill of Rights, I see no reason why the whole of the second 
letter may not be read there next Tuesday, except the postscript, 
which has no connection with the rest, and the word ridiculous, 
which may naturally ^ve offence ; — as I mean to persuade and 
soften, not irritate or offend, let that word be expunged. The 
prefatory part you may leave or not as you think proper. You 
are not bound to satisfy any man's curiosity upon a private 
matter, and upon my silence you may, I believe, depend entirely. 
As to other passages I have no favor or affection, so let all go.. 
It should be copied over in a better hand. 

If any objections are raised, which are answered in my third 
letter, you will, I am sure, answer for me, so far forth, ore tenus. 

JUNIUS. 

By all means let it be copied. — This manuscript is for private 
juse only. 

Letter IX. 

Moiidaj'.f 
Sir, — ^When I wrote to you on Saturday, it did not occur to 

* Written on it by Mr. Wilkes, " Received Sept. 21, 1771." 
+ Written on it by Mr. Wilkes, "Received Sept. 23, 1771." 



340 CORRESPONDENCE. 

me that your own advertisement had ah-eady informed the 
public of your receiving two letters ; your omitting the preamble 
to the second letter would therefore be to no purpose. 

In my opinion you should not wish to decline the appearance 
of being particularly addressed in that letter. It is calculated 
to give you dignity with the public. There is more in it than 
perhaps you are aware of. Depend upon it, the perpetual union 
of Wilkes and mob does you no service. Not but that I love 
and esteem the mob. — It is your interest to keep up dignity 
and gravity besides. I would not make myself cheap by walking 
the streets so much as you do. Verbum sat. 

Letter X. To Junius. 

Wednesday, Sept. 25. 
Sir, — ^Yesterday I attended the meeting of the Society of the 
Bill of Rights, and laid before them the letter, which I had the 
honor of receiving from you on the 7th of September. The few 
lines of the preamble I omitted, the word ridiculous, according 
to your directions, and a very few more lines towards the con- 
clusion. All the rest was a faithful transcript, the exact tenor.* 
The season of the year occasioned the meeting to be ill attended? 
only eleven members were present. The following resolution 
passed unanimously : " That Mr. Wilkes be desired to transmit 
to Junius the thanks of the Society for his letter, and to assure him, 
that it was received with all the respect due to his distinguished 
character and abilities." Soon after my fever obliged me to 
return home, and I have not heard of any thing further being- 
done ; but Mr. Lee told me he thought the letter capable of a 
full answer, which he meant on a future day, to submit to the 
Society, and would previously communicate to me. The letter 

* When Mr. Wilkes was prosecuted in the year 1764, for pubUshing the 
North Briton, No. 45, Lord Mansfield issued an order for Mr. Wilkes's attorney 
or solicitor to attend at his house, on the morning previous to the trial, " to 
show cause why the information in tliis cause should not be amended by striking 
out the word purport, in the several places where it is mentioned in the said infor- 
mation, (except in the first place) and inserting, instead thereof, the word tenor." 
The Cliief Justice was accused of having suggested this alteration, and several 
objections were taken to it, which, in argument, were overruled by the court. 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 34i 

is left in the hands of Mr. Reynolds, who has the care of the 
other papers of the Society, with directions to permit every 
member to peruse, and even transcribe it, on the promise of 
non-publication. Some particular expressions appeared rather 
too harsh and grating to the ears of some of the members. 

Surely, sir, nothing in the advertisement I inserted in the 
Public Advertiser, could lead to the idea of the two letters I 
mentioned coming from Junius. I entreat him to peruse once 
more, that guarded advertisement. I hope that Mr. Bull's, and 
my address of Saturday, was approved where I most desire it 
should be thought of favorably. I know it made our enemies 
wince in the most tender part. I am too ill to-day to add more. 

JOHN WILKES. 
Letter XL 

16tli October, 1771. 

Sir, — I cannot help expressing to you my thanks and appro- 
bation of your letter of this day. I think it proper, manly, and 
to the purpose. In these altercations nothing can be more 
useful, than to preserve dignity and sang froid — -fortiter in re, 
suaviter in modo, increases both the force and the severity. Your 
conduct to Mr. Sawbridge is every thing I could wish. Be 
assured, you will find it both honorable and judicious. Had it 
been adopted a little sooner, you might have returned him and 
Crosby, and taken the whole merit of it to yourself. If I am 
truly informed of Mr. S.'s behaviour on the hustings, I must con- 
fess it does not satisfy me. But perseverance, management, 
and determined good humour, will set every thing right, and, 
in the end, break the heart of Mr. Home.* Nothing can be 
more true than what you say about great men. They are 
indeed a worthless, pitiful race. Chatham has gallantly thrown 
away the scabbard, and never flinched. From that moment / 
began to like him. 



* It appears that Mr. Sawbridge could not play well the part of the hypocrite, 
and did not, according to instructions, sufficiently conceal his disrespect and 
opposition to Wilkes. Junius however, consoles Wilkes by assurances that 
perseverance, management, &c. would set every thing right, and in the end, break 
the Aeari of Mr. Home! Risum teneatis ? This wretched finesse is too quaint and 
palpable for comment. — ,im. Ed. 



342 CORRESPONDENCE. 

I see we do not agree about the strict right of pressing. It' 
you are as sincere as I am, we shall not quarrel about a differ- 
ence of opinion. I shall say a few words to-morrow on this 
subject, under the signature of Philo-Junius. — The letters under 
that name have been hastily drawn up, but the principles are 
tenable. I thought your letter about the military very proper 
and well drawn. JUNIUS. 

To the foregoing letter Mr. Woodfall subjoins the following 
remarks and extracts : 

This, (Wilkes's letter) was a long address to the livery of 
London, in his own defence, from an attack which had been 
made upon him by Mr. Alderman Townshend. We shall 
extract such parts of it as are more particularly alluded to by 
Junius in this letter. 

" Mr. Townshend asks, ' Does he (Mr. Wilkes) allow one 
man in the court of aldermen to be worthy of your confidence, 
except himself and Mr. Crosby V Let me state the question! 
about Mr. Sawbridge. Mr. Wilkes has declared under his 
hand, in all the public papers, 'No man can honor Mr. 
Sawbridge more than I do, for every public and private virtue, 
which constitutes a great and amiable character .' Was this 
praise cold or penurious ? Was it not deserving a better return 
than it seems to have found ? Is not such a character worthy of 
your confidence ?" 

" Mr. Morris told us at the Bill of Rights, that when he 
pressed Mr. Townshend about the affair of the printers, his 
answer was, that he did not find he should be supported by any 
great man, and otherwise it would be imprudent, therefore did 
not choose to act in it. The prudent Mr. Townshend may wait 
the consent of great men. I will on a national call follow 
instantly the line of my duty, regardless of their applause or 
censure. Public spirit and virtue are seldom in the company 
of his lordship or his grace." **#*## 

" Has not, by the conduct of your magistrates, a complete 
victory been gained over the usurped powers both of the crown 
and the house of commons ? The two questions have been 
frequently agitated among the friends of liberty, even while I 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 343 

remained at the King's Bench. When the city and the nation 
had clearly decided in favor of the cause, the great men followed, 
as they generally do, joined the pubhc cry, and thronged to the 
Tower to pay their tardy tribute of praise to the persecuted 
patriots. The business had been completed without their 
assistance. In all such cases I am persuaded we shall find, that 
the people will be obliged to do their own business ; but if it 
succeeds, they may be sure of the concurrence and applause of 
the great, and their even entering the most loathsome prisons 
or dungeons — on a short visit of parade." 

" As a good Englishman and citizen, I thanked my brethren 
Sawbridge and Oliver, for having so nobly discharged their duty 
as aldermen in the business of Press Warrants, on which I 
expatiated as the most cruel species of General Warrants." Mr. 
Wilkes's letter of Oct. 15. 

Shortly previous to Messrs. Wilkes and Bull entering upon 
their office of sheriffs of London, they addressed a short letter 
to the livery, containing a paragraph respecting the military, of 
which the following is a copy : 

" We have observed with the deepest concern, that a militaiy 
force has, on several late occasions, been employed by an un- 
principled administration, under the pretence of assisting the 
civil power in carrying the sentence of the laws into execution. 
The conduct of the present sheriffs, in ,the remarkable case of 
the two unhappy men who suffered in July, near Bethnal Green, 
was truly patriotic. We are determined to follow so meritori- 
ous an example ; and as that melancholy part of our office will 
commence in a very few days, we take this opportunity of 
declaring, that as the constitution has entrusted us with the 
whole power of the county, we will not, during our sheriffalty, 
suffer any part of the army to interfere, or even to attend, as on 
many former occasions, on the pretence of aiding or assisting 
the civil magistrate. This resolution we declare to the public, 
and to administration, to prevent during our continuance in 
office, the sending of any detachments from the regular forces 
on such a service, and the possibility of all future alarming dis- 
putes. The civil power of this country we are sure is able to 
support itself and a good government. The magistrate, with 



344 COKRESPONDENCE. 

the assistance of those in his jurisdiction, is by experience 
known to be strong enough to enforce all legal commands, 
without the aid of a standing army. Where that is not the 
case, a nation must sink into an absolute military government, 
and every thing valuable to the subject be at the mercy of the 
soldiery and their commander. We leave to our brave country- 
men of the army the glory of conquering our foreign enemies. 
We pledge ourselves to the public for the faithful and exact dis- 
charge of our duty in every emergency without their assistance. 
We desire to save them a service we know they detest, and we 
take on ourselves the painful task of those unpleasing scenes, 
which our office calls upon us to superintend. The laws of our 
country shall, in all instances during our sheriffalty, be solely 
enforced by the authority and vigor of the civil magistrate." 

Letter XII. 

Oct. 17, 1771. 

Sir, — I am not yet recovered, and to-day have been harassed 
with complaints against the greatest villains out of hell, the 
bailiffs ; but so very polite and friendly a letter as Junius's of 
yesterday demands my earliest and warmest acknowledgments. 
I only take up the pen to say that I think myself happy in his 
approbation, that a line of applause from him gives the same 
brisk circulation to my spirits, as a kiss from Chloe, and that I 
mean soon to communicate to him a project of importance. — 
I will skirmish with the great almost every day in some way or 
other. Does Junius approve the following manoeuvre, instead 
of going in a gingerbread chariot to yawn through a dull sermon 
at St. Paul's. 

" Old Bailey, Oct. 24th, 1771. 

" Mr. sheriff' Wilkes presents his duty to the lord mayor, and 
asks his lordship's leave to prefer the real service of his countr}' 
to-morrow in the administration of justice here, to the vain 
parade on the anniversary of the accession of a prince, under 
whose inauspicious government an universal discontent prevails 
among the people, and who still leaves the most intolerable 
grievances of his subjects unredressed." — This card to be pub- 
lished at length. Will Junius suggest any alteration or addition ? 



JUNIUS AiVU WiUKJib. 345 

It is a bold step. — The sessions will not be ended on the 25tli, 
and it is the duty of the sheriff to attend. I will follow all your 
hints about Mr. Sawbridge. — I am sorry to differ so much from, 
you about Press Warrants. I own that I have warmly gone 
through that opposition upon the clear conviction that every 
argument alleged for the legality of the Press W aiTant would 
do equally well for ship money. I believe Junius as sincere as 
myself, I will therefore be so far from quarrelling with him for 
any difference of opinion, that when I find we disagree, I will 
act with double caution, and some distrust of the certainty of 
my being clearly in the right. 

I hope the sheriff's letter to Mr. Ackerman has your appro- 
bation. Does Junius wish for any dinner or ball tickets for the 
lord mayor's day, for himself, or friends, or a favorite, or 
Junia ? The day will be worth observation. Whether creta 
an carbone notandus* I do not know ; but the people^ sir, the 
people, are the sight. How happy should I be to see my Portia 
here dance a graceful minuet with Junius Brutus ! But Junius 
is inexorable and I submit. I would send your tickets to Wood- 
fall. 

To-morrow I go with the lord mayor and my brother sheriff 
to Rochester to take up our freedoms. We return on Sunday 
night. 

I entreat of Junius to favor me with every idea, which occurs 
to him for the common cause, in every particular relative to my 
conduct. He shall find me no less grateful than ductile. 

JOHN WILKES. 
Letter XIII. 

London, 2 1 October, 1 771 . 

Many thanks for your obhging offer ; — but alas ! my age and 
figure would do but little credit to my partner. — 1 acknowledge 
the relation between Cato and Portia, but in truth I see no 
connexion between Junius and a minuet. 

You shall have my opinion whenever you think proper to ask 
it, freehj, honestly, and heartily. If I were only a pa?'ty man, I 



To he marked with chalk or charcoal. — dm. Ed. 

44 



should naturally concur in any enterprise, likely to create a 
bustle without risque or trouble to myself. But I love the cause 
independent of persons, and I loish well to Mr. Wilkes inde- 
pendent of the cause* Feehng, as I really do, for others where 
my own safety is provided for, the danger to which I expose a 
simple printer, afflicts and distresses me. It lowers me to my- 
self to draw another into a hazardous situation which I cannot 
partake of with him. This consideration will account for my 
abstaining from *********-]■ so long, and for the undeserved 
moderation with which I have treated him. I know my ground 
thoroughly when I affirm that he alone is the mark. It is not 

Bute, nor even the princess dowager. It is , whom 

every honest man should detest, and every brave man should 
attack. Some measures of dignity and prudence must never- 
theless be presei-ved for our own sakes. I think your intended 
message to the lord mayor is more spirited than judicious, 
and that it may be attended with consequences which (com- 
pared with the single purpose of ) are not worth 

hazarding — non est tanti — consider it is not Junius or Jack 
Wilkes, but a grave sheriff {(or grave you should be) who marks 
his entrance into office with a direct outrage to the - — — 
that it is only an outrage, and leads to nothing. — Will not cour- 
tiers take advantage? Will not Whigs be offended? And 
whether offended or not, will not all parties pretend to condemn 
you ? If measures and not men has any meaning (and I own it 

has very little,) it must hold particularly in the case of ; 

and if truth and reason be on one side, and all the common-place 
topics on the other, can you doubt to which side the multitude 
will incline ? Besides that it is too early to begin this kind of 
attack, I confess I am anxious for your safety. I know that in 
the ordinaiy course of law they cannot hurt you ; but did the 
idea of a bill of banishment never occur to you ? And don't 



* Tliis declaration is belied by the whole course of Junius in regard to 
Wilkes, But the soft, the duclile, and grateful Mr. Wilkes appears to have sur- 
rendered at discretion, and committed himself entirely to the management of a 
man who heartily despised and detested him. — Jim. Ed. 

t George Rex. — ^m. Ed. 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 347 

you think a demonstration of this kind on your part might 
furnish government witli a specious pretence for destroying you 
at once, by a summary proceeding ? Consider the measure 
coolly and then determine. 

If these loose thoughts should not weigh with you as mucii 
as I could wish, I would then recommend a little alteration in 
the message. I would have it stated thus : — 

Prince's Court, 24 October, 1771. 

" Mr. Wilkes presents his duty to the lord mayor, and flatters 
himself he shall be honored with his lordship's approbation, if he 
prefers the real service of his country to-morrow in the ad- 
ministration of justice at the Old Bailey, to the vain parade of 
a procession to St. Paul's. — With the warmest attachment to 
the house of Hanover, and the most determined allegiance to 
the chief magistrate, he hopes it will not be thought incumbent 
on him to take an active part in celebrating the accession of a 
prince, under whose inauspicious reign the English constitution 
has been grossly and deliberately violated, the civil rights of the 
people no less daringly invaded, and their humble petitions for 
redress rejected with contempt." 

In the first part, to ask a man^s leave to prefer the real service 
of our country to a vain parade, seems, if serious, too servile ; 
— if jest, unseasonable, and rather approaching to burlesque. — 
The rest appears to me not less strong than your own words, 
and better guarded in point of safety, which you neglect too 
much. — I am now a little hurried, and shall WTite to you shortly 
upon some other topics. JUNIUS.* 



* The cause of omissions in this letter is accounted for in a letter from Mr. 
Sergeant Rough to Mr. Barker. 

SergeanVs Inn, Chancery-lane, Jlpril 12, 1827. 

" Dear sir, — I hasten to acknowledge your letter, with the printed papers 
accompanying it, delivered by Mr, Maxon, I am sorry, however, tliat I can 
render you so very little service in respect of the subjects on which you write. 

" The letters of Junius to Mr. Wilkes passed through my hands to Mr. Wood 
fall, and are those which appear in liis edition of 1812. They belonged to Mr 
P. Elmsley, the late Principal of St. Alban's, who, as I beheve, possessed them 
as executor to his father. His knowledge of me as a brother- Westminster with 
me and the circumstance of my having married an acknowledged daughter of 



'S4.b CORKESPONDENCE. 

Letter XIV. 

Prince's Court, Monday Morning, Nov. 4. 
On my return home last night I had the very great pleasure 
of reading the Dedication and Preface which Mr. Woodfall 
left for me. I am going with the city officers to invite the little 
great to the custard on Saturday. Perditur hoc inter misero lux. 
I shall only add, accept, legi, probavi. I am much honored by 
the polite attention of Junius.* 

Letter XV. 

6 November, 1771. 

I entreat you to procure for me copies of the informations 
against Eyre before the lord mayor. I presume they were 
taken in writing. If not 1 beg you will favor me with the most 
exact account of the substance of them, and any observations 
of your own that you think material. If I am right in my facts, 
I answer for my law, and mean to attack lord Mansfield as soon 
as possible. 

IMy American namesake is plainly a man of abilities, though 
I think a little unreasonable, when he insists upon more than 
an absolute surrender of the fact. I agree with him that it is a 
hardship on the Americans to be taxed by the British legisla- 
ture ; but it is a hardship inseparable in theory from the condi- 
tion of colonists, in which they have voluntarily placed them- 
selves. If emigration be no crime to deserve punishment, it is 
certainly no virtue to claim exemption ; and however it may 
have proved eventually beneficial, the mother country was but 



Mr. Wilkes, induced him to decline letting Mr. Woodfall have them without my 
assent. They came to me from my friend, Mr. Hallam, to whom they were 
afterwards returned for Mr. Elmslej'. 

" In the letters, I fear, I have to answer for the striking out of a line or two, 
in which the late king was spoken of, upon alleged personal knowledge, with an 
expression of much bitterness. It was an idle precaution on my part, inasmuch 
as Junius's opinions could have done little harm to any one, and were sufficienth^ 
avowed in other letters. I have never seen the letters, about which you enquire, 
since they were given back by me to Mr. Hallam, for Elmsley." 

* Upon this letter was written by Mr. Wilkes, "On returning Junius the Dedica» 
tion and Preface he sent me." 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 349 

little obliged to the intentions of the first emigrants. But, in 
fact, change of place does not exempt from subjection : — ^the 
membei-s of our factories settled under foreign governments, 
and whose voluntary banishment is much more laudable with 
regard to the mother country, are taxed with the laws of con- 
sulage. All reste, I see no use in fighting this question in the 
newspapers, nor have I time. You may assure Dr. Lee, that 
to my heart and understanding the names of American and 
Englislimen are synonymous, and that as to any future taxation 
of America, I look upon it as near to impossible as the highest 
improbability can go. 

I hope that since he has opposed me where he thinks me 
wrong, he will be equally ready to assist me when he thinks me 
right. Besides the fallibility natural to us all, no man writes 
mider so many disadvantages as I do. I cannot consult the 
learned. I cannot directly ask the opinion of my acquaintance, 
and in the newspapers I never am assisted. 

Those who are conversant with books, well know how often 
they mislead us, when we have not a living monitor at hand to 
assist us in comparing practice with theory. 

Letter XVL To Junius. 

Prince's Court, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 
Sir, — I do not delay a moment giving you the information 
you wish. I enclose a copy of Eyre's commitment. Nothing 
else in this business has been reduced to writing. The exami- 
nation was before the sitting justice. Alderman Hallifax, at 
Guildhall ; and it is not usual to take it in writing, on account 
of the multiplicity of business there. The paper was found 
upon him. He was asked what he had to say in his defence, 
his answer was, I hope you will bail me. Mr. Holder the clerk, 
answered, that is impossible. There never was an instance of 
it, when the person was taken in the fact, or the goods found 
upon him. I believe Holder's law is right. Alderman Hallifax 
likewise granted a search-warrant prior to the examination. 
At Eyre's lodgings many more quires of paper were found, all 
marked on purpose, from a suspicion of Eyre. After Eyre 
had been some time at Wood-street Compter, a key was found 



350 CORRESPOISDENCK. 

in his room there, wliich appears to be a key to the closet at 
Guildliall, from whence the paper was stolen. The lord mayor 
refused to bail Eyre, but I do not find that any fresh examina- 
tion was taken at the Mansion-house. The circumstances were 
well Imown. I was present at the examination before Hallifax, 
but as sheriff could not interfere, only I whispered Hallifax he 
could not bail Eyre. Anglus in to-day's Public Advertiser, 
told some particulars I had mentioned. I did not know of that 
letter ; it is Mr. Bernard's of Berkley Square. As to the 
Americans,! declare I know no difference between an inhabitant 
of Boston in Lincolnshire, and of Boston in New England. I 
honor the Americans ; but our ancestors who staid and drove 
out the tyrant, are justly greater in merit and fame than those 
who fled and deserted their countrymen. Their future conduct 
has been a noble atonement, and their sons have much surpassed 
them. I will mention to Dr. Lee what you desire. You shall 
have every communication you wish from me. Yet I beg 
Junius to reflect a moment. To whom am I now writing ? I 
am all doubt and uncertainty, though not mistrust or suspicion. 
I should be glad to canvass freely every part of a great plan. 
I dare^not write it to a man I do not know, of wJiose connections 
I am totally ignorant. I differ with Junius in one point : I 
think by being concealed he has infinite advantages which I 
want. I am on the Indian coast, where, from the fire kindled 
round me, I am marked out to every hostile arrow which knows 
its way to me. Those who are in the dark are safe, from the 
want of direction of the pointless shaft.* I followed Junius's 
advice about the card on the anniversary of the King's acces- 
sion. I dropped the idea. I wish to know his sentiments about 
certain projects against the usurped powers of the house of 
lords. The business is too vast to vsrite, too hazardous to com- 
municate to an unknown person. Junius will forgive me. 

* Mr. Wilkes evidently began to be alarmed. Some passages in one of the 
public letters of Junius, printed a little before, were sufficient to awaken suspi- 
cion, if the grossncss of some of the remarks in the letters to Wilkes himself 
had not already produced that efiect. I shall insert a few of these passages at 
the close of this correspondence. Junius, it will be perceived, took leave of hif^ 
friend Wilkes in his next letter written three davs after the above. — ^m. Eil 



JUNmS AND WILKES. 351 

What can be done ?— " Alas !" where is the man after all Wilkes 
has experienced, in whose friendly bosom he can repose his 
secret thoughts, his noble but most dangerous designs ? The 
person most capable he can have no access to, and all others he 
will not trust. I stand alone, isoU as the French call it, a single 
column unpropped, and perhaps nodding to its fall. 

JOHN WILKES. 

Letter XVIL 

9 November, 1771. 

I am much obliged to you for your information about Eyre. 
The facts are as I understood them, and, with the blessing of 
God, I will pull Mansfield to the ground. 

Your offer to communicate your plan against the lords was 
voluntary. Do now as you think proper. I have no resent- 
ments but against the common enemy, and will assist you in any 
way that you will suffer yourself to be assisted. When you 
have satisfied your understanding that there may be reasons 
why Junius should attack the king, the minister, the court of 
king's bench, and the house of commons, in the way -that I have 
done, and yet should desert or betray the man who attacks the 
house of lords, I would still appeal to your heart. Or if you 
have any scruples about that kind of evidence, ask that amiable 
daughter whom you so implicitly confide in — Is it possible that 
Junius should betray me ? Do not conceive that I solicit new- 
employment. I am overcome with the slavery of writing. 

Farewell. 
Letter XVIIL To Junius. 

Prince's Court, Jan. 15, 1772. 

A necessary attention to my health engrossed my time entirely 
in the few holidays I spent at Bath, and I am rewarded with 
being perfectly recovered. The repairs of the clay cottage, to 
which I am tenant for life, seem to have taken place veiy suc- 
cessfully ; and the building will probably last a few more years 
in tolerable condition. 

Yesterday I met the supporters of the Bill of Rights at the 
London Tavern. Much discourse passed about the publication 
of Junius's letter. Dr. Lee and Mr. Watkin Lewes, who were 



352 correspojsdejnce. 

both suspected, fully exculpated themsdves. I believe the 
publication was owing to the indiscretion of Mr. Patrick Caw- 
dron, a linen-draper in Cheapside, who showed it to his partner 
on the Saturday. The partner copied it on the Sunday, and 
the Monday following it appeared in the Morning Chronicle. 
The Gazetteer only copied it from thence. The Society du'ected 
a disavowal of their publication of it to be sent to you, and are 
to take the letter into consideration at the next meeting. I 
forgot to mention that Mr. Cawdron keeps the papers of the 
Society. 

The winter campaign will begin with the next week. I 
believe that the sheriffs will have the old battle renewed with 
the commons, and I suppose the lord mayor and the courtly 
aldermen will commit the printer for us to release. Another 
scene will probably open with the lords. Junius has observed, 
" the arbitrary power they have assumed of imposing fines, 
and committing during pleasure, will now be exercised in its 
fullest extent." The progress of the business I suspect will be 
this — a bitter libel against Pomfret, Denbigh, or Talbot, 
attacking the peer personally, not in his legislative or judicial 
capacity, will appear. His lordship, passion's slave, will com- 
plain to the house. They will order the printer into custody 
and set a heavy fine. The sheriffs the next morning will go to 
Newgate, examine the warrant of commitment, and, like the 
angel to Peter, take the prisoner by the hand and conduct him 
out of prison : afterwards they will probably make their appeal 
to the public against the usurpation of their lordships, and their 
entirely setting aside the power of juries in their proceedings. 

Are there more furious wild beasts to be found in the upper 
den than the three I have named ? Miller the printer of the 
London Evening Post, at No. 2, Queen's Head Passage, Pater- 
noster Row, is the best man I know for this business. He will 
print whatever is sent him. He is a fine Ohverian soldier. I 
intend a manifesto with my name on Monday to give spirit to 
the printers, and to show them who will be their protector. I 
foresee it will nicike the two houses more cautious, but it is 
necessaiy for our friends, and the others shall be baited till they 
are driven into the snare. Adieu. 

JOHN WILKES 



JUNILS AJND WILKKS. 353 

The following passages are extracted from the public address 
of Junius to the people, in Letter 58, with which, observes Mr. 
Woodfall, " he seems in the first instance to have resolved upon 
closing his labors at least under the character of Junius, provided 
no beneficial effects were likely to result from it." 

This letter therefore may be looked upon as a political legacy 
to the people. — Here, if any where, we may expect to find the 
genuine sentiments of Junius. It is dated Oct. 5, 1771, eleven 
days previous to Junius's letter to Wilkes, in which he talks of 
breaking the heart of Mr. Home ; and seventeen days after 
saying he had " often cursed that canting parson for wishing to 
deny you (Wilkes) your claret." The last letter of Junius to 
Home was written on the 13th of August preceding. 

Here follow the extracts. 

" It is not necessary to exact from Mr. Wilkes the virtues of 
a stoic. They were inconsistent with themselves, who, almost 
at the same moment, represented him as the basest of mankind, 
yet seemed to expect from him such instances of fortitude and 
self-denial, as would do honor to an apostle. It is not however, 
flattery to say, that he is obstinate, intrepid, and fertile in expe- 
dients. That he has no possible resource but in the public favor, 
is, in my judgment, a considerable recommendation of him. 
However he may be misled by passion or imprudence, I think 
he cannot be guilty of a deliberate treachery to the public. The 
favor of his country constitutes the shield which defends him 
against a thousand daggers. Desertion would disarm him. 

I can more readily admire the liberal spirit and integrity, than 
the sound judgment, of any man who prefers a republican form 
of government, in this or any other empire of equal extent, to 
a monarchy so qualified and limited as ours. I am convinced, 
that neither is it in theory the wisest system of government, nor 
practicable in this country.* Yet, though I hope the English 



* Mr. Home, on his trial for high treason (says Mr. Stephens) proved by major 
Cartwright, Mr. Sheridan, and others, his firm attachment to the constitution, 
and that his opinions had been uniformly the same, during the course of a long 
life. It was also clearly proved, that he had ridiculed Paine's principles, and 
aid, " This country was not fit for a republic." 

45 



354 



COURESPONDKNCE. 



constitution will for ever preserve its original monarchical form . 
I would have the manners of the people purely and strictly 
republican. I do not mean the licentious spirit of anarchy and 
riot. I mean a general attachment to the commonweal, distinct 
from any partial attachment to persons or families ; an implicit 
submission to the laws only ; and an affection to the magistrate, 
proportioned to the integrity and wisdom with which he distributes 
justice to his people, and administers their affairs. The present 
habit of our political body appears to me the very reverse of 
what it ought to be. The form of the constitution leans rather 
more than enough to the popular branch ; while, in effect, the 
manners of the people (of those at least who are likely to take 
a lead in the countrj^) incline too generally to a dependence 
upon the crown. The real friends of arbitrary power combine 
the facts, and are not inconsistent with their principles, when 
they strenuously support the unwarrantable privileges assumed 
by the house of commons. In these circumstances, it were 
much to be desired, that we had many such men as Mr. Saw- 
bridge to represent us in parliament. I speak from common 
report* and opinion only, when I impute to him a speculative 
predilection in favor of a republic. In the personal conduct 
and manners of the man I cannot be mistaken. He has shown 
himself possessed of that republican firmness which the times 
require ; and by which an English gentleman may be as usefully 
and as honorably distinguished, as any citizen of ancient Rome, 
of Athens, or Lacedemon. 

Mr. Townsend complains that the public gratitude has not 
been answerable to his deserts. It is not difficult to trace the 
artifices which have suggested to him a language so unworthy 
of his understanding. A great man commands the affections 
of the people ; a prudent man does not complain when he has 
lost them. Yet they are far from being lost to Mr. Townsend. 
He has treated our opinion a little too cavaherly." 

" I have too much respect for the abilities of Mr. Home, to 
flatter myself that these gentlemen will ever be cordially re- 



* Junius makes it a point to deny any personal knowledge of his most particular 
friends. 



JUNIUS AND WILKES. 3i}5 

united. It is not, however, unreasonable to expect, that each 
of them should act his separate part with honor and integrity to 
the public. As for differences of opinion upon speculative 
questions, if we wait until they are reconciled, the action of 
human affairs must be suspended for ever. But neither are we 
to look for perfection in any one man, nor for agreement among 
many." 

" When a man, who stands forth for the public, has gone that 
length from which there is no practicable retreat, when he has 
given that kind of personal offence, which a pious monarch 
never pardons, I then begin to think him in earnest, and that 
he will never have occasion to solicit the forgiveness of his 
country.* But instances of a determination so entire and unre- 
served are rarely met with. Let us take mankind as they are ; 
let us distribute the virtues and abilities of individuals according 
to the offices they affect ; and, when they quit the service, let 
us endeavor to supply their places with better men than we have 
lost. In this country there are always candidates enough for 
popular favor. The temple of fame is the shortest passage to 
riches and preferment." 

Can any man, after reading the foregoing passages, persuade 
himself that the letters of Junius to Home and Wilkes express 
the real feelings and sentiments of the author ? Do they not 
exhibit a prima facia evidence of the most outrageous imposi- 
tions that were ever palmed upon the credulity of mankind ? 

If any inconsistency appears in the letters of Junius in regard 
to America, the same line of conduct may be observed in John 
Home, pari passu. The Miscellaneous Letters vindicate the 
stamp act passed under the administration of Mr. George Gren- 
ville, and it has been seen that Mr. Home had a difference with 
Mr. Wilkes, for supporting the pretentions of the Americans to an 
exclusive legislative right to internal taxation. But under other 
administrations and different circumstances, a change of opinion 
seems to have taken place. 

Junius, in the first letter of the series under that signature, 
makes the following remarks. 

^ Was not John Hornc that man ? 



356 CORRESPONDENCE. 

" Under one administration the stamp act is made ; under 
the second it is repealed ; under the third, in spite of all expe- 
rience, a new mode of taxing the colonies is invented, and a 
question revived which ought to have been buried in oblivion. 
In these circumstances a new office is established for the busi- 
ness of the plantations, and the earl of Hillsborough called 
forth, at a most critical season, to govern America. As for his 
measures, let it be remembered, that he was called upon to 
conciliate and unite ; and that, when he entered into office, the 
most refractory of the colonies were still disposed to proceed 
by the constitutional methods of petition and remonstrance. 
Since that period they have been driven into excesses little short 
of rebellion. Petitions have been hindered from reaching the 
throne ; and the continuance of one of the principal assemblies 
rested upon an arbitrary condition, which, considering the 
temper they were in, it was impossible they should comply 
with ; and which would have availed nothing as to the general 
question, if it had been complied with. So violent, and, I 
believe, I may call it, so unconstitutional, an exertion of the 
prerogative, to say nothing of the weak, injudicious terms in 
which it was conveyed, gives us as humble an opinion of his 
lordship's capacity, as it does of his temper and moderation. 
While we are at peace with other nations, our military force 
may, perhaps, be spared to support the earl of Hillsborough's 
measures in America. Whenever that force shall be necessarily 
withdrawn or diminished, the dismission of such a minister 
will neither console us for his imprudence, nor remove the 
settled resentment of a people, who, complaining of an act of 
the legislature, are outraged by an unwarrantable stretch of pre- 
rogative ; and, supporting their claims by argument, are insulted 
with declamation." 

And in letter 39, he says, " Neither the general situation of 
our colonies, nor that particular distress which forced the 
inhabitants of Boston to take up arms in their defence, have 
been thought worthy of a moment's consideration. In the 
repeal of those acts which were most offensive to America, the 
parliament have done every thing but remove the offence. They 
have relinquished the revenue, but judiciously taken care to 



JUNIBS AND WILKES. 



351 



preserve the contention. It is not pretended that the continu- 
ation of the tea-duty is to produce any direct benefit whatsoever 
to the mother country. What is it then, but an odious, unpro- 
fitable exertion of a speculative right, and fixing a badge of 
slavery upon the Americans, without service to their masters ? 
But it has pleased God to give us a minister and a parliament, 
who are neither to be persuaded by argument, nor instructed 
by exprience." 

The same spirit which dictated the foregoing remarks, is 
visible in the following measures, "proposed," says Mr. Stephens, 
by Mr. Home. 

King's Arms Tavern, Cornhill, June 7, 1775. 
" At a special meeting, this day, of several members of the 
Constitutional Society, during an adjournment, a gentleman 
proposed that a subscription should be immediately entered 
into (by such of the members present who might approve the 
purpose) for raising the sum of one hundred pounds, to be 
applied to the relief of the widows, orphans, and aged parents, 
of our beloved American fellow-subjects, who, faithful to the 
character of Englishmen, preferring death to slavery, were, for 
that reason only, inhumanly murdered by the king's troops at or 
near Lexington and Concord, in the province of Massachussets, 
on the 19th of last April ; which sum being immediately col- 
lected, it was thereupon resolved, ' That Mr. Home do pay 
to-morrow, into the hands of Messrs. Brownes and Collinson, 
on account of Dr. Franklin, the said sum of one hundred pounds ; 
and that Dr. Franklin be requested to apply the same to the 
above-mentioned purpose.' JOHN HORNE."*- 

Mr. Stephens remarks, that Mr. Home, " doubtless hoped, if 
this measure should become general, the ministers would be 
rendered unable to proceed in their impolitic, and, as it after- 
wards proved, fatal career." 

* 50Z. more were afterwards forwarded to Mr. Home by an unknown individual 
for the same purpose, and advertised in like manner by him. 



I 



CHAPTER XV. 



PRIVATE LETTERS 

OF 

JUNIUS, 



'9 

ADDRESSED TO 



MR. H. S. WOODFAIili. 



No. 1. To Mr. Woodfall. 

April 20, 17d9. 

Sir, — ^I am preparing a paper, which you shall have on or 
before Saturday night. Advertise it for Monday.* Junius on 
Monday. C. 

If any inquiry is made about these papers, I shall rely on 
your giving me a hint. 

No. 2. 

Friday, May 5, 1769.1 
Sir, — It is essentially necessary that the enclosed should be 
published to-morrow, as the great question comes on on Mon- 
day, and lord Granby is already staggered. J 

If you should receive an answer to it, you will oblige me 
much by not publishing it, till after Monday. C. 



* Junius, letter xi. 

t This note was addressed to Mr. Woodfall, with a desire that it should " be 
opened by himself only." 

J " The letter is printed in the Miscellaneous Collection, No lv. and the great 
question alluded to was upon the Middlesex petition against the seating of Col. 
Luttrell for that county. The debate took place on Monday the 8th of May in 
the house of commons, and continued from half-past one o'clock in the afternoon, 
till half- past four the next morning, when, upon a division, there appeared for 
theipetition 152, against it 221. The speakers on this occasion, in favor of th« 



•»G0 LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

No. 3. 

Saturday, July 15, 1769. 
Sir, — I have received the favor of your note. From the 
contents of it, I imagine you may have something to commu- 
nicate to me ; if that be the case, I beg you will be particular ; 
and also that you v^^ill tell me candidly whether you know or 
suspect who I am. Direct a letter to Mr. William Middleton, 
to be left at the bar of the New Exchange Coffee-house on 
Monday as early as you think proper. I am, sir, your most 
obedient, and most humble servant,* C. 

No. 4. 

[Private.) July 17, 1769. 

Sir, — Mr. Newberry having thought proper to reprint my 
letters, I wish at least he had done it correctly. You will 
oblige me much by giving him the following hint to-morrow. 
The inclosedf when you think proper. 

petition, were Mr. Dowdesvvell, Lord J. Cavendish, Mr. Wedderburne, Mr. Gren- 
ville, Mr. Cornwall, Mr. Burke, Mr. Seymour, and Sir George Saville ; those 
against it, Mr. Stanley, Sir G. Osborne, Dr. Blackstone, Mr. W. Ellis, Mr. 
Thurlow, Mr. C. J. Fox, Mr. Moreton, and Sir F. Norton. 

In consequence of the rejection of the petition to the house of commons, the 
following was soon afterwards presented to the king." 

Here Mr. Woodfall inserts the petition of the freeholders of the county of 
Middlesex, the residence of Mr. Home, and there can be no doubt but that it was 
drawn up by him. From the grievances complained of, I make the following 
extracts : 

" Public money shamefully squandered and unaccounted for, and all enquiry 
into the cause of arrears in the civil list prevented by the ministry. 

Enquiry into a pay-master's public accounts stopped in the Exchequer, 
though the sums unaccounted for by that pay-master amount to above forty 
millions sterling. 

Public loans perverted to private ministerial purposes. 

The same discretion has been extended by the same evil counsellors to your 
majesty's dominions in America, and has produced to our suffering fellow-subjects 
in that part of the world, grievances and apprehensions similar to those which we 
complain of at home." Signed by 1565 Freeholders. 

* It is remarkable that the same finesse, in the manner of subscribing, is here 
made use of as was practised by John Home in his first letter to Jimius, before 
taken notice of. — Mm. Ed, 

i Junius, letter xvi. 



TO H. s. wooDPArx. 361 

'• Mr. NewbeiTy having thought proper to repruit Junius's 
letters, might at least have corrected the errata, as we did 
constantly." 

Page 1, line 13, /ornational rea'i rational. 

— 3, — 4, — was — were. 

— 5, — 15, — indisputable — indispensable. 
Letter 7, — 4, — in all mazes — in all the mazes. 

— 15, — 24, — rightest — brightest. 

— 48, — 2, — indiscreet — indirect." 

I did not expect more than the Hfe of a newspaper, but it' 
this man will keep me alive, let me live without being offensive. 
Speciosa quoero pascere tigres. 

No. 5. 

July 21, 1769, Friday night. 
Sir, — ^I can have no manner of objection to your reprinting 
the letters, if you think it will answer, which I believe it might, 
before Newberry appeared! If you determine to do it, give 
me a hint, and I will send you more errata (indeed they are 
innumerable) and perhaps a Preface. I really doubt whether 
I shall write any more under this signature. I am weary of 
attacking a set of brutes, whose writings are too dull to furnish 
me even with the materials of contention, and whose measures 
are too gross and direct to be the subject of argument, or to 
require illustration. 

That Swinney* is a wretched but a dangerous fool. He had 
the impudence to go to lord G. Sackville, whom he had never 
spoken to, and to ask him whether or no he was the author of 
Junius — take care of him. 

Whenever you have any thing to communicate to me, let 
the hint be thus, C at the usual place, and so direct to Mr. John 
Fretley, at the same coffee-house, where it is absolutely impos- 
sible I should be known. 

I did not mean the Latin to be printed. 

I wish lord Holland may acquit himself with honor.f If his 

* A correspondent of the printer's. 

t The editor has already observed, in the Preliminary Essay, that Junius 
appears to liave uniformly entertained a good opinion of, or at least a partiahty 
for. lord Holland. The remark ifs not new j it was noticed long ago bv serei^I 



362 



LETTERS OF JUNIUS 



cause be good, he should at once have pubhshed that account;, 
to which he refers in his letter to the mayor.* 

Pray tell me whether George Onslow means to keep his 
word with you about prosecuting. Yes or No will be sufficient. 
Your Lycurgus is a Mr. Kent, a young man of good parts upon 
town. And so I wish you a good night. Yours, C. 

It appears that lord Holland suspected himself to be alluded 
to in the cliarge of embezzlement contained in the London 
petition, and he wrote to the lord mayor to ascertain if he was 
the paymaster censured in the petition ; observing " I am sure 
Mr. Beckford must have been against it, because he knows, 
and could have shown your lordship in writing, the utter false- 
hood of what is there insinuated." To which the mayor 
replies " that he had no concern in drawing up the petition of 
the Livery of London to his majesty ; that he looks on himself 
only as the carrier, together with other gentlemen charged with 
the delivery of it ; that he does not, nor ever did, hold himself 
accountable for the contents of it, and is a stranger to the 
nature of the supposed charge against his lordship." 

Mr. Beckford, seeing his name implicated in this correspon- 
dence, wrote from the country to a friend (July 15, 1769) 
acknowledging the receipt of the writing in question from his 
friend Mr. Woodhouse, and adds, " the paper alluded to is in 
London, I therefore cannot speak of the contents with accuracy 
and precision ; but this I recollect, that the perusal of it did not 
convince me that all I had heard was false. I have no doubt 



of his opponents. In a letter subscribed by our caithor, Anti-Fox, and inserted 
in the Public Advertiser of October 16th, 1771, he thus speaks of him : "I know 
nothing of Junius ; but I see plainly that he has designedly spared lord Holland 
and his family." 

* He seems to refer to a charge of embezzlement of the public treasure, made 
in the city petition presented to his majesty, July 5th, 1769. 
Here Mr. Woodfall inserts the petition, from which I extract the following- 
" All this they (his majesty's ministers) have been able to effect by corruption ; 
by a scandalous misapplication and embezzlement of the public treasure, and a 
shameful prostitution of public honors and employments : procuring deficiencies 
in the civil list to be made good without examination ; and, instead of punishing, 
i'onferring honors on a paymaster, the public defaulter of unaccounted millipns'^ 



TO H. S. WOODFALL. 



363 



Mr. Woodhouse has a copy of the paper by him, and I hope he' 
will submit the contents of it to the judgment of the pubhc, in 
vindication of an imwcent man." 

Junius, it seems, by his letter signed Anti-Fox, knew nothing 
of himself. ^ This ruse de guerre might be fair enough under 
circumstances. It was probably good policy in him to appear 
ignorant of the charge brought against lord Holland. — " If, says 
Junius, his cause he good" &c. 7/" is a word of suspicious 
character ; the reader M^ill recollect the insidious use made of 
it by Junius in his remarks upon lord Chatham. 

There appears to have been an under current in this business ; 
somebody moving the wires behind the curtain. The lord 
mayor was utterly in the dark ; he knew nothing of the aftair. 
The question naturally occurs, who was the secret agent and 
instigator of these measures ? " On turning (says Mr. Stephens) 
to the proceedings of this period, (the period under considera- 
tion) it will be found, that the vicar of Brentford was not idle. 
Incited by his usual enthusiasm, he not only acted a conspicuous 
part on every public occasion, but for a time exercised a kind 
of paramount jurisdiction over all the proceedings of the day." 

From the part taken by Mr. Beckford in this affair, there is 
good reason to beheve that he was guided in it by his political 
mentor. — Mr. Beckford and Mr. Home both apply the word 
innocent ironically to lord Holland. "In vindication of an 
innocent man," says Mr. Beckford in his letter of July 15. Mr, 
Home, in a letter to Mr. Onslow, July 28, says, " If with an- 
other innocent man, lord Holland," &c. In both cases the word 
innocent is printed, in Woodfall's edition, in small capitals. 

Mr. Stephens gives the following account of the connection 
of these gentlemen. 

" Mr. Home's acquaintance with Mr. Beckford commenced 
at an early period, and they lived for many years in great inti- 
macy together, idem sentire de republica, being on that, as on 
most similar occasions, a bond of union between two hberal 
and ingenious minds. The alderman was a man of plain, solid 
understanding, but was not accomplished; he, however, possessed 
good sense enough to recur to the readier talents of his friend, 
on several trying occasions. He died during his second mayor- 



3tJ4 l/Kl'TEKS OP JUiVnjS 

alty, in 1770, at the age of sixty-five, and the grateful citizens 
have erected a statue to his honor, on the base of which is 
inscribed the celebrated reply composed by Mr. Hornc. 

On turning to Miller's history for the year 1771, 1 find the 
following remarks. , 

"At that period the freemen of London seemed to have 
suspended all exercise of their own will, as well as of their 
own reason ; and while they flattered themselves with the idea 
of setting an example of public spirit to the whole kingdom, 
they were in fact the abject, senseless tools of a few factious 
demagogues. After Beckford's death, Crosby, Sawbridge, 
Townsend, Wilkes, and Oliver, succeeded to the ostensible 
direction of all the city proceedings. In the first month of 
Crosby's mayoralty, another remonstrance in the usual strain, 
and the third of the kind delivered in the same year, was agreed 
to, chiefly through alderman Sawbridge's persuasion." 

Alderman Sawbridge, as well as Mr. Beckford, appears to 
have been under the entire guidance of the master spirit behind 
the scene. The mystejious Junius directed and governed all 
their movements. 

After printing the documents respecting lord Holland, Mr. 
Woodfall inserts an account of the dispute of Home with 
George Onslow, including all the letters that passed between 
the parties ; the whole comprising seventeen close printed 
pages in brevier type. The slight notice taken of these cases 
by Junius in the foregoing note to Woodfall, can certainly form 
no sufficient reason for introducing these papers in this place, 
upon any other ground than their forming a part of the political 
works of Junius. And when it is considered that the plan of 
the work was devised by the author, it irresistibly follows that 
Junius bore a principal part in the foregoing transactions. 

The aforesaid documents, it will be observed, are printed in 
notes ; and Mr. Woodfall says, in his advertisement, that, 
" though some of them (the explanatory notes) are longer than 
he could have wished, yet from the circumstance of their having 
been written in answer to letters from Junius, he has thought it 
more desirable that they should appear in the form in which 
they are now offered, than be pressed into the text of the work. 



TO n. S. WOODFALL. 3tJ5 

by which means the present size must have been very con- 
siderably extended ; and the ^^Za/i as devised by the author, have 
been in some instances departed from." 

That Mr. Onslow's letters were " written in ansv-ar to letters 
from Junius," I fully believe, and that, if they had not been, 
they never would have appeared in Mr. Woodfall's collection 
of the political works of that author. 

No. 6. 

Sunday, August 6, 1769. 

Sir,— The spirit of your letter* convinces me that you are a 
much better writer than most of the people whose works you 
publist vVhether you have guessed well or ill, must be left to 
our future acquaintance. For the matter of assistance, be 
assured, that if a question should arise upon any writings of 
mine, you shall not want it. Yet you see how things go, and I 
fear my assistance would not avail you much. For the other 
points of printing, &c. it does not depend on us at present. My 
own works you shall constantly have, and in point of money, 
be assured you shall never suffer. I wish the enclosedf to be 
announced to-morrow conspicuously for Tuesday. I am not 
capable of writing any thing more finished. Your friend, C. 

Your Veridicus is Mr. Whitworth. I assure you I have not 
confided in him. 

No 7. 

Wednesday night, Aug. 16,1769. 

Sir, — I have been some days in the country, and could not 
conveniently send for your letter until this night. Your correc- 
tion was perfectly right, the sense required it, and I am much 
obliged to you. When I spoke of innumerable blunders, I 
meant Newberry's pamphlet; for I must confess that upon 
the whole your papers are very correctly printed. 

Do with my letters exactly what you please. I should think 
that, to make a better figure than Newberry, some others of 
my letters may be added, and so throw out a hint, that you have 



* The substance of Mr. Woodfall's reply to Private Letter. No 3. isnot ?<jiowp. 
t Junius, Letter xx. 



360 LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

reason to suspect they are by the same author. If you adopt 
this plan, I shall point out those which I would recommend ; 
for you know, I do not, nor indeed have I time to give equal 
care to them all. 

I know Mr. Onslow perfectly. He is a false silly fellow. 
Depend upon it, he will get nothing but shame by contending 
with Home. 

I believe I need not assure you, that I have never written in 
any other paper since I began with yours. As to Junius, I must 
wait for fresh matter, as this is a character I must keep up with 
credit. Avoid prosecutions if you can ; but above all things, 
avoid the houses of Parliament, — there is no contending with 
them. At present you are safe, for this house of commons has 
{ost all dignity, and dare not do any thing. Adieu, C. 

No. 8. 

(Private.) Sept. 10, 1769. 

Sir, — The last letter you printed was idle and improper, and 
I assure you printed against my own opinion.* The truth is, 
there are people about me, whom I would wish not to con- 
tradict, and who would rather see Junius in the papers ever so 
improperly than not at all. I wish it could be recalled. Sup- 
pose you were to say " We have some reason to suspect that 
the last letter signed Junius in this paper, was not written by 
the real Junius, though the observation escaped us at the time :" 
or if you can hit off any thing yourself more plausible, you will 
much oblige me, but without a positive assertion. Don't let it be 
the same day with the enclosed. Begging your pardon for this 
trouble, I remain your friend and humble servant, C. 

No. 9. 

(Private.) Friday night, Sept. 15, 1769. 

Sir, — I Beg you will to-morrow advertise Junius to another 
duke in our next.-f If Monday's paper be engaged, then let it 



* It occurs in the Miscellaneous Letters, No. lix. In the genuine edition it 
•was omitted for the reason wiiich the author has here specified. — Ed. 

This was in answer to a letter purporting to be the production of a female, and 
signed Junia. Junius, in his answer, indulges in indecent wit and ribaldry un- 
becoming his standing as a political writer. — Am. Ed. 

\ This note had reference to the letter to his grace the duke of Bedford. 
Junius, No. xxui. 



To U. S. WOODFALL. 3G7 

be for Tuesday, but not advertised till Monday. You shall have 
it some time to-morrow night. It cannot be corrected and 
copied sooner. I mean to make it worth printing. Yours, C. 

No. 10. 

Thursday night, Oct. 5, 1769. 

I shall be glad to see the pacquet you speak of.* It cannot 
come from the Cavendishes, though there be no end of the 
family. They would not be so silly as to put their arms on the 
cover. As to me, be assured that it is not in the nature of 
things, that they, or you, or any body else should ever know 
me, unless I make myself known. All arts or inquiries, or 
rewards, would be equally ineffectual. 

As to you, it is clearly my opinion, that you have nothing to 
fear from the duke of Bedford. I reserve some things expressly 
to awe him, in case he should think of bringing you before the 
house of lords. — I am sure I can threaten him privately with 
such a storm, as would make him tremble even in his grave. 
You may send to-morrow to the same place without farther 
notice ; and if you have any thing of your own to communicate, 
I shall be glad to hear it. C. 

No. 11. 

Nov. 8, 1769 
Sir, — ^I have been out of town for three weeks, and though I 
got your last, could not conveniently answer it. Be so good as 
to signify to A. B. C, either by word of mouth, or in your own 
hand, " that his papers are received, and that I should have been 
ready to do him the service he desires ; but at present it would 
be quite useless to the parties, and might offend some persons 
who must not be offended." As to Mr. Mortimer, only make 
him some civil excuse. 

1 should be much obliged to you, if you would reprint (and 
in the front page, if not improper or inconvenient) a letter in the 
London Evening Post of last night, to the duke of Grafton.f If 
it had not been anticipated, I should have touched upon the 

* The nature of this communication is not known, 
1 See Miscellaneous Letters, No. i.xi= 



368 LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

subject myself. However, it is not ill done, and it is very mate- 
rial that it should spread. The person alluded to is lord Denbigh. 
I should think you might venture him with a D. As it stands 
few people can guess who is meant. The only thing that hinders 
my pushing the subject of my last letter, is really the fear of 
ruining that poor devil Gansel, and these other blockheads. — 
But as soon as a good subject offers. — Your types really want 
mending. C. 

No. 12. 

Nov. 12, 1769. 
Sir, — I return you the letters you sent me yesterday. A 
man who can neither write common EngHsh, nor spell, is hardly 
worth attending to. It is probably a trap for me. I should 
be glad, however, to know what the fool means. If he writes 
again, open his letter, and if it contains any thing worth my 
knowing, send it : otherwise not. Instead of C. in the usual 
place, say only A Letter when you have occasion to write to 
me again. — I shall understand you. C. 

No. 13. 

Thursday, Nov. 16, 1769. 
As I do not choose to answer for any body's sins but my 
own, I must desire you to say to-morrow, " We can assure the 
public that the letter signed A. B. relative to the Duke of Rut- 
land, is not written by the author of Junius."* I sometimes 
change my signature, but could have no reason to change the 
paper, especially for one that does not circulate half so much 
as yours. C 

For the future, open all letters to me, and don't send them, 
unless of importance. — I can give you hght about Veridicus. 

C. 

No 14. 

Sunday, Dec. 10, 1769. 
I would wish the paper (No. 2.) might be advertised for 
Tuesday.f 

* See Miscellaneous Letters, No. lxi. and note * appended to it, 
■?• The paper here referred to is the Letter of Junius, No. xxxir. 



TO II. a. WOODFALL. 369 

By way of intelligence you may inform the public that Mr. 
De la Fontaine, ybr his secret services in the Alley, is appointed 
Barrack-master to the Savoy. 

I hope A. B. C. has got his papers again. 

No. 15. 

Dec. 12, i-rcg. 

Sir, — You may tell Mr. A. B. C. that I did not receive liis 
letter till last night, and have not had time to look into the paper 
annexed. I cannot at present understand what use I can 
make of it. It certainly shall not be an ungenerous one to him. 
If he or his counsel know how to act, I have saved him already, 
and really without intending it. The facts are all literally true, 
Mr. Hine's place is Customer at the port of Exeter. Colonel 
Burgoyne received 4000?. for it. To mend the matter, the 
money was raised by contribution, and the subscribers quartered 
upon Mr. Hine. Among the rest, one Doctor Brook, a physi- 
cian at Exeter, has 100/. a year out of the salary. I think you 
might give these particulars in your own way to the public* 
As to yourself, I am convinced the ministry will not venture to 
attack you, they dare not submit to such an inquiry. If they 
do, show no fear, but tell them plainly you will justify, and 
subpoena Mr. Hine, Burgoyne, and Bradshaw of the treasury — 
that will silence them at once. — As to the house of commons, 
there may be more danger. But even there I am fully satisfied 
the ministry will exert themselves to quash such an inquiry, and 
on the other side you will have friends : — but they have been so 
grossly abused on all sides, that they will hardly begin with you. 

Tell A. B. C. his paper shall be returned. I am now medi- 
tating a capital, and I hope a final piece ; — you shall hear of it 

shortly.! 

No. 16. 

Dec. 19, 1769. 
For material affection, for God's sake read maternal ; it is in 
the sixth paragraph. J The rest is excellently done. 

* The facts were given to the pubhc by Junius himself, in Letter xxxiv. And 
are indeed touched upon more than once in liis subsequent letters. 

j He refers to the letter to tlic king, Junius, No, xxxv. 

t Letter to the king. 

It appears by Wheble's editon, that this letter was originally addressed to the king, and not, 
as now printed, to tho Printer of the Public Advertiser.— .i?7«. Ed. 

47 



370 LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

No. 17. 

Dec. 26, 1769, 

Sir, — With the enclosed alterations I should think our paper 
might appear.* As to - embowelling, do whatever you think 
proper, provided you leave it intelligible to vulgar capacities ; 
but M^ould not it be the shortest way at once to print it, in an 
anonymous pamphlet? judge for yourself. I enter seriously 
into the anxiety of your situation, at the same time I am strongly 
inclined to think that you will not be <ialled upon.f They 
cannot do it without subjecting Iline's affair to an inquiry, 
which would be worse than death to the minister. As it is? 
they are more seriously stabbed with this last stroke than all 
the rest. — At any rate, stand firm — (I mean with all the humble 
appearances of contrition) — if you trim or falter, you will lose 
friends without gaining others. A. B. C. has done right in 
publishing his letter, it defends him more effectually than all his 
nonsense. — I believe I shall give him a lift, for I really think 
he has been punished infinitely beyond his merits. — I doubt 
much whether I shall ever have the pleasure of knowing you ; 
but if things take the turn I expect, you shall know me by my 
tcorJiS. C. 

No. 18. 

(Private.) Jan. 12, 1770. 

8ir, — I desired A. B. C. not to write to me until I gave him 
notice, he must therefore blame himself, if the detention of his 
papers has been inconvenient to him. Pray tell him this, and 
that he shall have them in a day or two. I shall also keep my 
promise to him,J but to do it immediately would be useless to 
him, and unadviseable with respect to myself I believe you 

* This paper is (supposed to liave been totally suppressed, the alterations in- 
troduced into it, not having perhaps satisfied the printer of his safety in pubhsh- 
ing it, as the signal of a private communication from him to the author appeared 
in the P. A. of the next day, 

i The printer was tlireatened by the minister with prosecution for pubUshing 
the letter of Junius, No. xxxiii. and the court of King's Bench was actually 
moved on liis behalf; but probably for the reason mentioned above, the threat 
was never executed. 

I See Junius, No. xxxin. and xxxvi, for an explanation of the fact and papers 
here referred fo. 



TO II, .S. WOODFALL. 371 

may banish your fears. Tlie information* will only be for a 
misdemeanor, and K am advised that no jury, especially in these 
times, will find it. I suspect the channel through which you 
have your intelligence. It will be carried on coldly. You 
must not write to me again, but be assured I will never desert 
you. I received your letters regularly, but it was impossible 
to answer them sooner. You shall hear from me again shortly. 

No. 19. 
^Private.) Beginning of Feb. 17'70, 

Sir, — When I consider to what excessive enmities I may be 
exposed, you will not wonder at my caution. I really have not 
known how to procure your last. If it be not of any great 
moment, I would wish you to recall it. If it be, give me a hint. 
If your affair should come to a trial,f and you should be found 
guilty, you will then let me know what expense falls particularly 
on yourself; for I understand you are engaged with other 
proprietors. Some way or other you shall be reimbursed. But 
seriously and bona fide, 1 think it is impossible. C. 

No. 20. 

xA.bout Feb. 14, 1770. 

I have carefully perused the information. It is so loose 
and ill-drawn, that I am persuaded Mr. De Grey could not have 
had a hand in it. Their inserting the whole, proves they had 
no strong passages to fix on. I still think it will not be tried. If 
it should, it is not possible for ajuiy to find you guilty. 

No. 21. 

Saturday, March 17, 1770. 

To-morrow before twelve you shall have a Junius, it will be 
absolutely necessary that it should be published on Monday. 

* The information was for publishing the letter to the king. 

\ The trial here referred to is stated more fully in another part of tliis publica- 
tion, and alludes to an information filed by the attorney-general, in consequence 
of the printer's having published the letter of Junius to the king. The copy of 
the information was procured in Hilary term, 1770, and the trial took place at 
Guildhall, June 13th following. The costs to the printer in defending himself i 
though ultimately successful, amounted to about 120/. a somewhat heavy fine 
for a person not found guilty. 



ArZ l^ETTERS OF JUNIUS 

Would it be possible to give notice of it to-night or to- 
morrow, by dispersing a few hand-bills ? Pray do whatever 
vou think will answer this purpose best, for noio is tlie crisis.^ 

C. 
No. 22. 

Sunday, March 18, 1770. 

This letter is written wide, and I suppose will not fill two 
columns. For God's sake let it appear to-morrow. I hope you 
received my note of yesterday. 

Lord Chatham is determined to go to the Hall to support the 
Westminster remonstrance.f I have no doubt that we shall 
conquer them at last. C. 

The reader is now referred to Junius's letter, No. 37, dated 
March 19, 1770, also Miscellaneous letter. No. 70 — pages 182 
and 183 this volume, and the account there given of the peti- 
tions and remonstrances got up by John Home, and seriously 
asked, if he can distinguish the one from the other by their 
acts? 

" Ye shall know them by their fruits," is a monition that may 
be obsei'ved with equal success in ascertaining political as well 
as moral character, and, in the present instance, seems to be the 
only attainable test. 

The anxiety expressed by Junius in the two private notes 
to Woodfall, No. 21 and 22, as well as the letters referred 
to, shows that he was not exceeded in the person of Mr. Home 
in zeal to obtain the object contended for. The letter signed 
Junius, had particular reference to the London remonstrance 
of March 14, 1770. On the 23d of May following, another was 
presented to his majesty from the same quarter, drawn up 
by John Home. 

Junius, in a letter to Wilkes, says, " I am far from condemning 
the late addresses to the throne. They ought to be incessantly 



* The letter referred to, is printed Junius, No. xxxvii. 

■\ Agreed upon at a general meeting of the electors of the city and liberty of 
Westminster, assembled in Westminster Hall, in consequence of their petition 
to his majesty, requesting him to dissolve the parliament, having been rejected. 
The following is a copy of the remonstrance : — [Here the copy is inserted,] 



TO n. S. WOODFALL, 



373 



repeated. The people, by the singular situation of their affairs, 
are compelled to do the duty of the house of commons." 

No. 23. 
(Private) Friday Morn. Oct. 19,1770. 

By your affected silence,'you encourage an idle opinion that 
1 am the author of the Whig,* «fec. though you very well know 
the contrary. I neither admire the writer nor his idol. I hope 
you will soon set this matter right. C. 

No. 24. 

Monday Evening, Nov. 12, 1770. 

Sir, — The enclosed f though begun within these few days, 
has been greatly labored. It is very correctly copied, and I 
beg you will take care that it be literally printed as it stands. 
I don't think you can run the least risque. We have got the 
rascal down, let us strangle him if it be possible. This paper 
should properly have appeared to-morrow, but I could not 
compass it, so let it be announced to-morrow, and printed 
Wednesday. If you should have any fears, I entreat you send 
it early enough to Miller, to appear to-morrow night in the 
London Evening Post. In that case, you will oblige me by 
informing the public to-morrow, in your onm paper, that a real 
Junius will appear at night in the London. — Miller, I am sure, 
will have no scruples. 

Lord Mansfield has thrown ministry into confusion, by sud- 
denly resigning the office of speaker of the house of lords. 



* This letter vi'as printed in the Public Advertiser under the Signature of a 
Whig and an Enghshman, Oct. 11, 1770, and refers chiefly to the American Stamp 
Act, and the opinion of lord Chatham, whom the author panegyrized in very 
warm terms. The same writer had already published several other letters in the 
same name ; and the printer, in compliance with the request of Junius, gave the 
following notice — 

" The printer thinks it his duty to declare, that the letters which have appear- 
ed in this paper under the signature of a WIdg and an Englishman, were not, 
written by the author of those signed Junius. 

t Letter xli. Junius to the Right Hon. lord Mansfield. 



•> i 4 LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

No. 25. 

Wednesday Night, Nov. 21, 1770.* 
I shall be very glad to hear from your friend at Guildhall. — 
You may, if you think proper, give my compliments to him, and 
tell him, if it be possible, I will make use of any materials he 
will give me. I will never rest till i have destroyed or expelled 
that wretch. — I wish you joy of yesterday. — The fellow truckles 

already, f C. 

No. 26. 

Friday, 1 o'clock, Dec. 7, 1770. 
I wish it were possible for you to print the enclosed to- 
morrow,! observe the italics strictly where they are marked. 
Why don't I hear from Guildhall. — If he trifles with me, he 
shall hear of it.§ C. 

No. 27. 

January 2,1771. 
Sir, — I have received your mysterious epistle, I dare say a 
letter may safely be left at the same place : but you may change 
the direction to Mr. John Fretley. You need not advertise it. 

Yours, C. 
No. 28. 

Jan. 16, 1771. 
You may assure the public that a squadron of four ships 
of the line is ordered to be got ready with all possible expeditio?i 
for the East Indies. It is to be commanded by Commodore 
Spry. Without regarding the langutige of ignorant or inter- 
ested people, depend upon the assurance / give you, that every 
man in administration looks upon war as inevitable. 



* On the outside of this note was written, " the enclosed strikes deeper than 
you may imagine. C." The letter here referred to, is printed in the Miscella- 
neous Collection, No lxxviii. and is subscribed Testiculus. 

■f In allusion to the unanimous judgment of the court of King's Bench, on the 
verdict for printing the letter to the king, given Nov. 20th. 1770 ; by which lord 
Mansfield lost his object, and the printer was granted a new trial. 

X The paper here referred to, is Miscellaneous Letter, No. lxxix. signed Do- 
mitian, and was printed as requested. 

§ The allusion is to a communication between the writer and Mr. Wilkes, 
which had been promised by the latter, but had not been at this time received. 



TO U. S. WOODFALL. 375 

No. 29. 

Thursday, Jan. 31,1771, 

The paper is extremely well printed, and has a great effect ;* 
it is of the utmost importance to tlie public cause that the doors 
of the house of lords should be opened on Tuesday next, perhaps 
the following may help to shame them into it. 

We hear that the ministry intend to move for opening the 
doors of both houses of parliament on Tuesday next, in the 
usual manner, being desirous that the nation should be exactly 
informed of their whole conduct in the business of Falkland 
Island. 

(Next day.) 

The nation expect, that on Tuesday next at least, both houses 
will be open as usual, otherwise there will be too much reason 
to suspect, that the proceedings of the ministry have been such 
as will not bear a public discussion. 

We hear that the ministry intend to move, that no gentleman 
may be refused admittance into either house on Tuesday next. 
Lord North in particular thinks it touches his character, to have 
any part of his conduct concealed from the nation. 

The resolution of the ministry to move for opening both 
houses on Tuesday next does them great honor. If they were 
to do otherwise, it would raise and justify suspicions veiy 
disadvantageous to their own reputation, and to the king's 
honor. Pray keep it up. C. 

No. 30. 

Tuesday Noon, Feb. 5, 1771. 
Sir, — I did not receive your letter until this day. I shall be 
very glad to hear what you have to communicate. C. 

You need not advertise any notice. 

No. 31. 

Monday, Feb. 11. 1771. 
Oui' correspondence is attended with difficulties, yet I should 
be glad to see the paper you mention ; let it be left to-morrow 



* It refers to Junius, No xlii. For the nature of the subject alluded to, see 
the letter, and the notes subjoined to it ; as also Miscellaneous Letters, No. 
xsxxTiii. and the note in explanation, , 



376 LKTTERS OF JUMUS 

ivithoutfurther notice. I am seriously of opinion that it will all 
end in smoke.* . C. 

No. 32. 

Monday Feb. 1G,177I. 
If you are not grown too ministerial in your politics, I shall 
hope to see the enclosed announced to-morrow and published 
on Wednesday.! 

No. 33. 

Feb. 21, 1771. 

Sir, — It will be very difficult, if not impracticable, for me to 
get your note. I presume it relates to Vindex. J I leave it to 
you to alter or omit as you think proper ; — or burn it. — I think 
the argument about Gibraltar,^ &c. is too good to be lost ; as 
to the satirical part, I must tell you, (and with positive certainty,) 
that -our gracious is as callous as stockfish to every thing 



* In reference to a notice from the Attorney-General for publishing letter of 
Junius, No. Lxii. but which was never farther proceeded upon. 

t This note accompanied No. xc of the Miscellaneous Letters. The printer 
had some scruples about publishing the whole of it ; and in the Public Advertiser 
of Feb. 29, gave the usual mark, " A Letter," that a private letter w^as in waiting 
upon this subject. In consequence of which the subsequent note was received, 
dated Feb. 21. 

X The following is a copy of the letter which Mr. Woodfall addressed to the 
author under the feigned name of Mr. John Kretley, and directed it to liim at the 
New Exchange Coffee-house, in the Strand. 

" Sir, — To have deserved any portion of your good opinion, affords me no small 
degree of satisfaction — to preserve it shall be my constant endeavour. Always 
willing to oblige you as much as lies in my power, I, with great avidity, open your 
letters ; and sometimes, without reading the contents, promise the publication. — 
Such is my present situation, and I hope you will not be offended at my declining 
to publish your letter, as I am convinced the subject of it must, if I was to insert 
it, render me liable to very severe reprehension. That I am not grown too 
ministerial in my politics, every day's paper will, I hope, sufficiently evince ; 
though I rather hope some little regard to prudence will not by you be deemed 
squeamishness, or tend to lessen me in your opinion, as I shall ever think myself 
your much obliged humble servant, HENRY SAMPSON WOODFALL." 

Feh. 19, 1771. 

" P. S. I shall wait your directions what to do with the paper in question, as I 
did not chose to trust it under cover till I was further acquainted with your 
pleasure." 

§ For the explanation of this passage, sec Miscellaneous Letters, No. xc, 
signed Vindev:. 



TO H. S. WOODFALL. 377 

but the reproach of cowardice. That alone is able to set the 
humours afloat. After a paper of that kind he won't eat meat 
for a week. 

You may rely upon it, the ministry are sick of prosecutions. 
Those against Junius cost the treasury above six thousand 
pounds, and after all they got nothing but disgrace. After the 
paper you have printed to-day, (signed Brutus*) one would 
think you feared nothing. For my own part I can very truly 
assure you that nothing would afflict me more than to have 
drawn you into a personal danger, because it admits of no 
recompense. A httle expense is not to be regarded, and I 
hope these papers have reimbursed you. I never will send 
you any thing that / think dangerous, but the risquef is yours, 
and you must determine for yourself. C. 

All the above is private. 

No. 34. 

Friday iioon, April, 19, 1771. 
I hope you will approve of announcing the inclosed Junius 
to-morrow, J and publishing it on Monday. If, for any reasons 
that do not occur to me, you should think it unadvisable to print 
it as it stands, I must entreat the favor of you to transmit it to 
Bingley, and satisfy him that it is a real Junius, worth a North 
Briton Extraordinary. It will be impossible for me to have an 
opportunity of altering any part of it. I am, very truly, your 
friend. C. 

No. 35. 

Thursday, June 20, 1771. 
1 am strangely partial to the enclosed.§ It is finished with 
the utmost care. If I find myself mistaken in my judgment of 
this paper, I positively will never write again. C. 

* This letter was addressed to lord North. 

t This pecuharity is the author's. 

X Junius, letter xliv. which was printed as requested. 

§ " Junius, No. XLix. to the duke of Grafton." It is necessary to infonn the 
reader, that Mr. G. Woodfall, in his edition of 1812, has added a letter to tlie 
series of Junius, numbered 46. Therefore the letters referred to in these notpg 
exceeding that number, will be one number less in the common editions, than 

48 
\ 



378 LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

Let it be announced:to-morrow, Junius to the duke ot'Graftoii 
for Saturday. 

I think Wilkes has closed well. 1 hope he will keep his 
resolution not to write any more.* 

No. 36. 

July 16, 1771. 

To prevent any unfair use being made of the enclosed, I 
intreat you to keep a copy of it. Then seal and deliver it to 
Mr. Home. I presume you know where he is to be found.-j; 

This trifling is really ridiculous. Junius presumes that Mf , 
Woodfall knew where Mr. Home was to be found. There was 
not a political man in the kingdom that did not know the resi- 
dence of Mr. Home. To pretend that the letter was not 
intended for the press, is an outrage upon the common sense of 
the public. There is an appearance oi trick in this manage- 
ment that is actually disgusting, because one cannot avoid 
feeling it as an insult offered to his understandmg. The remark 
of Junius in the preceeding note, in respect to Wilkes, contains 
the same quaint, presumptuous attempt at imposition. 

No. 37. 

August 13, 1771. 

Pray make an erratum for ultimate in the paragraph about 
the duke of Grafton, it should be intimate, the rest is very correct. J 
If Mr. Home answers this letter handsomely and in point, he 
shall be my great Apollo. 

No. 38. 

Wednesday noon, Sept. 25, 1771. 

The enclosed is of such importance, so very material, that it 
must be given to the public immediately.§ 

here specified. For instance, No. 49 refers to No. 48 in these editions. This 
innovation was the less called for, as the letter here introduced is printed entire, 
in a note, Vol. I. page 1 36, Philadelphia copy. — Am. Ed. 

* In allusion to the dispute between Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Home. 

t Note enclosing Junius's letter to the Rev. Mr. Home, No. Lii. 

\ Junius's Letter liv. 

« The letter referred to is Junius, No. lvh. 



TO 11. S. AVOODFALIi. 379 

1 will not advise ; though I tliink you perfectly safe : — all I 
say is, that / rely upon your care to have it printed either to- 
morrovr in your own paper, or to-night in the Pacquet. 

I have not been able to get yours from that place, but you 
shall hear from me soon. 

No. 39. 

About Nov. 5,1771. 

Your reasons are very just about printing the Preface, &c. 
It is your own affair. Do whatever you think proper. I am 
convinced that the book will sell, and I suppose will make two 
volumes, — the type might be one size larger than Wheble's. 
But of all this you are the best judge. I think you should give 
money to the waiters at that place to make them more attentive.* 
The notes should be in smaller type. 

Pray find out, if you can, upon what day the late duke of 
Bedford was flogged on the course of Litchfield by Mr. Heston 
Humphrey.! 

No. 40. 

Friday, Nov. 8, 1771. 

The above to that Scotchman should be printed conspicuously 
to-morrow.J At last I have concluded my great work, and I 
assure you with no small labor. I would have you begin to 
advertise immediately, and publish before the meeting of parlia- 
ment ; let all my papers in defence of Junius be inserted.^ I 
shall now supply you very fast with copy and notes. The 
paper and type should at least be as good as Wheble's. || You 
must correct the press yourself, but I should be glad to see 
corrected proofs of the two first sheets. Show the Dedication 
and Preface to Mr. Wilkes, and if he has any fnatcrial objec- 
tion, let me know. I say material, because of the difficulty of 
getting your letter. C. 



* A coffee-house at which letteiF, &c. were left for Junius, 
f See Junius, letter xxiii. 
% See letters of Junius, No. lxvi. 

§ The letters signed PhUo-Junius ; those numbered rxiu. and lxiv, and the 
extracts from the letters to the supporters of the Bill of Rights. 

ji The present respectable proprietor and publisher of the County Chronicle, 



?i8i) LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

(Secret.) 

Beware of David Garrick,* he was sent to pump you, and 
went directly to Richmond to tell the king I should write no 
more. The Dedication must stand first. 

No. 41. 

To Mr. David Garick. 

Nov. 10, 1771. 

I am very exactly informed of your impertinent inquiries, 
and of the information jou so busily sent to Richmond, and with 
what triumph and exultation it was received. I knew every 
particular of it the next day. — Now mark me, vagabond. — 
Keep to your pantomimes, or be assured you shall hear of it. 
Meddle no more, thou busy informer ! — It is in 7ny power to 
make you curse the hour in which you dared to interfere with 

JUNIUS. 

I would send the above to Garrick directly, but that I would 
avoid having this hand too commonly seen. Oblige me, then, 
so much as to have it copied in any hand, and sent by the 
penny post, that is if you dislike sending it in your own writing. 
I must be more cautious than ever. I am sure I should not 
survive a discovery three days ; or, if I did, they would attaint 
me by bill. Change to the Somerset Coffee-lwuse, and let no 
mortal know the alteration. I am persuaded you are too 
honest a man to contribute in any way to my destruction. Act 
honorahly by me, and at a proper time you shall know me. 

I think the second page, with the widest lines, looks best. 
What is your essential reason for the change? I send you 
some more sheets. — I think the paper not so good as Wheble's, 
• — but I may be mistaken — the type is good. The aspersions 



* Garrick had received a letter from Woodfall just before the above note of 
Junius was sent to the Printer, in which Garrick was told, in confidence, that 
there were some doubts whether Junius would continue to write much longer. 
Garrick flew with the intelligence to Mr. Ramus, one of the pages to the king, 
who immediately conveyed it to his majesty, at that time residing at Richmond, 
and from the peculiar sources of information that were open to this extraordinary 
writer, Junius was apprised of the whole transaction on the ensuing morning, 
and wrote the above postscript, and the letter that follows it, in consequence. 



TO n. s. woonrALi,, 



lib] 



thrown upon iny letter to the Bill of Rights should be refuted 
by publication. 

Prevail upon Mr. Wilkes to let you have extracts of my 
second and third letters to him. It will make the book still 
more new. I would see them before they are printed, but 
keep this last to yourself.* 

No. 42. 

Nov. 11, lT7i. 
Print the following as you think proper, and at the head of 
your paper, f 

I sent you three sheets of copy last night. 
When you send to mc, instead of the usual signal, say, Vindex 
shall he considered, and keep the alteration a secret to every 
body. 

No. 43. 

About Nov. 15, 1771. 
If you can find the date of the Duke of Bedford's flogging 
insert it in the note. J I think it was soon after the Westminster 
election. — The Philos are not to be placed as notes, except 
where I mention it particularly. I have no doubt of what you 
say about David Garrick — so drop the note. The truth is, that 
in order to curry favor, he made himself a greater rascal than 
he was. Depend upon what I tell you ; — the king understood 
that he had found out the secret by his own cunning and 
activity. — As it is important to deter him from meddling, I 
desire you will tell him that I am aware of his practices, and 
will certainly be revenged, if he does not desist. An appeal to 
the public from Junius would destroy him. 

Let me know whether Mr. Wilkes will give you the extracts. 
I cannot proceed without answers to those seven queries. 
Think no more of Junius Americanus.§ — Let him reprint his 



* On the outside of this letter was written "private and particular." 

f Certain paragraphs relating to the marriage of the late duke of Cumberland. 

} See note to letter xxiii. 

§ Junius Americanus was a frequent writer in the Public Advertiser during 
the years 1769, 1770, and 1771. His letters chiefly related, as his signature 
readilv suggests, to the disputes of the cabinet with the American colonics ; and 



382 LETTERS or JUNIUS 

letters himsell". He acts most dishonorably, in suffering Junius 
to be so traduced ; but this falsehood will all revert upon Home. 
In the mean time, I laugh at him. 

With submission I think it is not for your interest to declare 
that I have done. 

As to yourself, I really think you are in no danger. You are 
not the object, and punishing you (unless it answered the pur- 
pose of stopping the press) would be no gratification to the 
king. If undesignedly I should send you any thing you may 
think dangerous, judge for yourself, or take any opinion you think 
proper. You cannot offend or afflict me but by hazarding your 
own safety. They talk of farther informations, but they will 
always hold that language in terrorem. 

Don't always use the same signal — any absurd Latin verse 
will answer the purpose. ' 

Let me know about what time you may want more copy. 

Upon reflection, I think it absolutely necessary to send that 
note to D. G.* only S2cy practices instead o? impertinent inquiries. 
I think you have no measures to keep with a man who could 
betray a confidential letter, for so base a purpose as pleasing 

. Tell me how long it may be before you want 

more copy. — I want rest most severely, and am going to find it 
in the country for a few days. Cumbriensisf has taken greatly. 

No. 44. 

Novembers:?, 1771. 

The postscript to Titus must be omitted. — I did never ques- 

in the course of his strictures, he attributed to Junius doctrines, in relation to 
their dependence on the legislature of Great Britain, which he had never avowed, 
nor even incaned to. At this time there was some idea of publishing them col- 
lectively. They were written by a Dr. Charles Lee, as may be seen by a refer- 
ence to the private correspondence of Junius and Mr. Wilkes. — Ed. 

Mr. WoodfaU often makes very random assertions. Some of the Letters of 
Junius certainly did advocate the doctrine, that the American colonies were as 
dependent on the legislature of Great Britain as the mother country itself, — 
See p. 87, this volume. — Am. Ed. 

* David Garrick. See No. 41. 

■f See Miscellaneous Letters, No. cii. it was printed in the Public Advertiser, 
Nov. 13th, 177), upon the marriage of the late duke of Cumberland with Mrs- 
Horton, the sister of col. Luttrell. 



TO H, S. WOODFALL. 



383 



tion your understanding. Far otherwise. Tlie Latin word 
sitnplex conveys to me an amiable character, and never denotes 
folly. Though we may not be deficient in point of capacity, it 
is very possible that neither of us may be cunning enough for 
Mr. Garrick. But with a sound heart, bo assured you arc 
better gifted, even for worldly happiness, than if you had been 
cursed with the abilities of a Mansfield. After long experience 
of the world, I affirm before God, I never knew a rogue who 
was not unhappy. 

Your account of my letter to the Bill of Rights astonishes me. 
I always thought the misrepresentation had been the loork of Mr. 
Home. I will not trust myself with suspecting. The remedy is 
in my own hands, but, for Mr. Wilkes's honor, I wish it to come 
freely and honorably from himself Publish nothing of mine until 
I have seen it. In the mean time be assured, that nothing can 
be more express, than my declaration against long parliaments. 
Try Mr. Wilkes once moi-e — speak for me in a most friendly 
but ^rm tone, — that I will not submit to be any longer aspersed. 
— Between ourselves, let me I'ecommend it to you to he much upon 
your guard with patriots.* I fear your friend Jerry Dyson will 
lose his Irish pension. Say received. 

In page 25, it should be the instead of your,f this is a woeful 
mistake ; — pray take care for the future — keep a page for errata. 

David Garrick has literally forced me to break my resolution 
of writing no more. J 



Junius had committed himself by an unguarded expres- 
sion, evidently through inadvertence, in his letter No. 43. His 
multiplicity of employments at this time is the only apology for 
this faux pas. He had just concluded a long private corres- 
pondence with Wilkes, his last letter to him being dated the 
9th of November, a few days before he committed this blunder. 



* Mr. Home had experienced to his sorrow the sad effects of his confidence 
in the patriot, Wilkes. — Am. Ed. 

t In the opening of the letter of Junius, No. in. it was originally printed in the 
genuine edition, "Your defence," &c. In the present edition the correction has 
been duly adopted, 

X The letter alluded to is Junius, No. t.xvu. 



3S4 LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

The same hoax had passed current with Wilkes, and he pro- 
bably had him in his mind when he wrote the passage alluded to. 
I refer to his saying, " But this falsehood will all revert upon 
Home. In the mean time, / laugh at him." 

Junius, no doubt, had many hearty laughs, not at Home, but 
at the gullibility of the public. In this case, however, he appears 
to have carried the joke too far. Woodfall must have been 
astonished at this unceremonious introduction of Home as a 
.scape goat, to bear the sins of Wilkes and the Bill of Rights 
Society ; when he knew, and it was known to all England, that 
W^ilkes and Home were not on speaking terms, and that the 
latter had quit the Bill of Rights Society more than eight months 
before, which at this time was under the intire control of Wilkes. 
Woodfall, however, very innocently obtained information that 
this surmise was unfounded, which he communicated to Junius, 
who, no doubt, heartily cursed him for his interference. 

Junius, thus nonplused, said, he had always thought, &c. — 
that he would not timst himself with suspecting, &c. What 
pitiful subterfuge ! 

As this bait was not sufficiently disguised for Woodfall, and 
as Junius had, no doubt, conceived the idea of throwing out this 
lure, at the end of his letters, as a preface to the extract from 
his letter to Wilkes, to divert the public mind from himself, he 
had no other resource than to discover his person to Mr. Wood- 
fall. This he had already promised to do, provided the latter 
" acted honorably by him," which is not denied. On the con- 
trary, Junius, in his last letter to Woodfall, says, " You have 
never ^mc/iec? that I know of; and I shall always rejoice to 
hear of your prosperity." 

I contend, therefore, that soon after the date of the letter of 
Nov. 27, 1771, Mr. H. S. Woodfall was made acquainted with 
the author. The volumes were then almost completed, the 
danger of discovery nearly over, and Mr. Woodfall as a man of 
honor and principle, could not with any show of propriety print 
the note at the end of the work without being let into the 
secret of the author. The difficulty of correspondence, how- 
ever, remained the same, and it may be presumed that Junius 
did not trust himself for, at least, twelve months afterwards. 



TO H. S. WOODFALL. 



385 



within half a mile of Woodfall's office. As for Wilkes, there 
could be no objection to his correcting the proofs of the Dedica- 
tion and Preface, as it would tend to keep him and his associ- 
ates in the dark. 

After all the bluster about the misrepresentation of Junius's 
letter to Wilkes, there does not in reality appear to have been 
any. Junius was in favor of long parliaments in the view of 
the Wilkites, who advocated annual instead of triennial parlia- 
ments which he contended for. The dispute tunied upon the 
relative term long. The remarks of Junius upon this subject, 
in his fictitious quarrel with Home, are worthy of notice in this 
place. He there says, " The shortening the duration of parlia- 
ments is a subject on which Mr. Home cannot enlarge too 
warmly ; nor will I question his sincerity. If I did not pro- 
fess the same sentiments, I should be shamefully inconsistent 
with myself." There seems to have been no disagreement 
between Junius and Home, in regard to the terra shortening ; 
the understanding appears to be to restrict the duration to 
three years. 

The letter of Junius containing the above sentiments, was 
dated Aug. 15, 1771, and his letter to Wilkes, laid before the 
Bill of Rights Society, in which he introduces the same subject, 
was written the 7th of Sept. following. His opinions, there- 
fore on this head, being fairly before the people, his empty, 
insincere declaration about misrepresentation, contained in the 
note subjoined to his letters, was a downright insult to the 
public understanding. It was made with no other view than 
to bring forward an insinuation against the Reverend Mr. John 
Home, to prevent his being suspected of writing the letters of 
Junius. I will venture to say, that no such representation as is 
pretended was ever made ; that is, that Junius was in favor of 
septennial parliaments. The folly and absurdity of such asser- 
tion, when his sentiments on the subject had been so pointedly 
expressed in his public letters, would have deterred any man of 
common sense, however inimical to Junius, from hazarding his 
reputation in so ridiculous a manner, without the prospect of 
gaining the least credit. — This was one of the arts of the raysteri- 

49 



386 LETTERS OP JUNIUS 

ous Junius, and, although very thinly veiled, fully answered liiss 
expectations. 

As to the rotten boroughs, Junius was decidedly in favor of 
retaining them. He had, perhaps, in his eye. Old Sarum, as a 
dernier resort. — " It actually so happened in the course of human 
events," (says Stephens) " that he himself, (John Home) was 
returned for Old Sarum, a miserable, deserted hamlet, the 
vestiges of which scarcely remain at this period." 

The reader will observe, that when the note charging the 
Reverend Mr. John Home with misrepresenting the sentiments 
of Junius, conveyed in his letter to the Bill of Rights Society, 
first appeared in the author's edition of his public letters, the 
refutation of the story by H. S. Woodfall, was not before the 
public. When, therefore, his son, G. Woodfall, published this 
exposure, he found it a difficult task to reconcile the contra- 
dictory statements. But as it was necessary for him to say 
something about the circumstance, he makes the following 
awkward attempt to account for the discrepance. He says, 
" He, (Junius) here admits that he was mistaken in the conjecture 
that Home had misrepresented the sentiments conveyed in his 
letter to the Bill of Rights Society. Yet as he published the 
same opinion in his own edition, he must afterwards have had 
fresh grounds for re-accrediting it, wliile in the present letter he 
seems more than half to suspect Wilkes himself" 

Can the common sense of the public be longer abused by 
such palpable fraud ? 

The note is as follows : 

" The Revo-end Mr. John Home* having, with his usual 
veracity, and honest industry, circulated a report that Junius, in 
a letter to the supporters of the Bill of Rights, had warmly 
declared himself in favor of long parliaments and rotten 
boroughs, it is thought necessaiy to submit to the public the fol- 
lowing extract from his letter to John Wilkes, esq. dated the 7th 
of Sept. 1771, and laid before the society on the 24th of the 
same month." 



* The formal address here given to Mr. Home carries a prima facia evidence 
of trick 



TO ir. S. WOODFALL. ^>l!^l 

Then follows the extract from the letter to Wilkes. 

The Reverend Mr. John Home remained perfectly silent 
under this imputation to the day of his death. He feared to 
meddle with it, lest he should blow up the whole plot. Had he 
called upon Junius for proof, not a living soul could be produced 
to support the allegation, and the entire failure of the intended 
effect might have been the consequence. 

However, after the death of the reverend gentleman, Mr. 
Stephens, by sheer conjuration, brought him at the time, and in 
consequence of the publication of the aforesaid note, into the 
midst of the society for the support of the Bill of Rights, where 
he had not appeared in propria persona for more than twelve 
months before ; and having upon this occasion given Junius his 
due in fine style, was never more seen at their meetings. 

Mr. Stephens published his Memoirs of John Home Tooke> 
in 1813, the year after the appearance of G. Woodfall's Junius; 
and having witnessed his success in deluding the public, he 
seems to have concluded that the very appearance of probabi- 
lity might be dispensed with. 

After giving the letters that passed between Wilkes and 
Home, which showed that the latter had quit the Bill of Rights 
Society on the 26th of Feb. 1771, he inserts his famous dispute 
with Junius, and subjoins to it the above note, and also the 
extract from the letter to Wilkes, first published March 3, 1772; 
and then makes Home magically rise in a society long since 
abandoned by him, and deliver the following philippic : 

" To this letter, he says, Mr. Home shortly but forcibly replied, 
by means of a speech pronounced before the " Society for sup- 
porting the Bill of Rights," in which he ridiculed the pretended 
patriotism of this celebrated writer, and questioned the tendency 
of all his positions. He endeavored, at the same time, to expose 
him as the ^^ pander of corruption ;" and "todeprecate the malevo- 
lent effects of that eloquence, the open and declared object of 
which seemed to be confined to the support of ministerial 
abuses, and an apology for rotten boroughs /" 

These pretended remarks of Home, said to be made more 
than forty years before, are now for the first time reported 
verbatim. 



388 LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

If a writer can tlius trifle with the understanding of his 
readers and maintain his credit, it is time to rehnquish all search 
after the author of Junius's letters ; because the most conclu- 
sive reasoning and positive facts may be put down by barefaced 
assertions in contradiction to evidence produced by the very 
person making them. 

By the foregoing remarks, as before observed on similar 
reflections, I do not mean to be understood as censuring the 
conduct of the gentlemen to whom they allude ; for, as Dr. 
Parr said, and no doubt correctly, " it was the wish, if not the 
duty of Woodfall (the elder) to keep us in the dark," so I 
conceive the same duty devolved upon his son, and also upon 
Mr. Stephens. They were, without doubt, as before intimated, 
under the most solemn engagements, not only not to divulge the 
secrets committed to their charge, but to endeavor, in every 
possible way, to blind and confuse their readers. In their mis- 
representations, therefore, they committed, if I may so say, an 
honorable fraud. Having conceded thus much, the gentlemen, 
or the survivor of them, will, I hope, excuse me for unveiling that 
fraud, and giving it as my decided opinion that the very means 
they have taken to deceive the public, with a view of conceal- 
ing the author of Junius, tend more effectually to discover him 
than any positive declarations they could have made intention- 
ally to point him out ; because their motives for so doing 
could not be ascertained with such certainty as in the present 
case. 

No. 45. 

Dec. 5, 1771. 
These papers are all in their exact order. Take great care 
to keep them so. In a few days more I shall have sent you all 
the copy. You must then take care of it yourself, except that I 
must see proof sheets of the Dedication and Preface, and these, 
if at all, I must see before the end of next week. You shall 
have the extract to go into the second volume, it will be a short 
one. Scaevola, I see is determined to make me an enemy to 
lord Camden.* If it be not wilful malice, I beg you will signify 

* For furthi^r parlicnlarf! of thi^ dispute, see letters of .Tnniiis, No. ix. 



TO H. S. WOODFALL. 389 

to him, that when I originally mentioned lord Camden's decla- 
ration about the Corn Bill, it was without any view of dicus- 
sing that doctrine, and only as an instance of a singular opinion 
maintained by a man of great learning and integrity. Such an 
instance was necessary to the plan of my letter. I think he has 
in effect injured the man whom he meant to defend. 

When you send the above proof sheets, return my own copy 
with them. 

No. 46. 

Dec 10,1771. 

The enclosed completes all the materials that I can give you. 
I have done my part. Take care that you do yours. There are 
still two letters wanting, which / will expect you will not fail to 
insert in their places. One is from Philo-Junius to Scaevola 
about lord Camden, the other to a friend of the people about 
pressing.* They must be in the course of October. — I have no 
view but to serve you, and consequently have only to desire 
that the Dedication and Preface may be correct. Look to it. 
If you take it upon yourself, I will not forgive your suffering it 
to be spoiled. I weigh every word ; and every alteration, in 
my eyes at least, is a blemish. 

I should not trouble you or myself about that blockhead 
Scaevola, but that this absurd fiction of my being lord Camden's 
enemy has done harm. — Every fool can do mischief ; therefore 
signify to him what I said. 

Garrick has certainly betrayed himself, probably * * * 
* * * * * * *, who makes it a rule to betray every body 
that confides in him.f That new disgrace of Mansfield is 



* These two letters are numbered Philo Junius, lx. and lxii. 

I These stars answer for John Wilkes, and it is highly probable his name 
occupied the blank in the original letter. The last of the materials to complete 
the work of Junius were enclosed with this letter ; including of course, if not 
before sent, the note to be inserted at the end of the letters, charging the reverend 
Mr. John Home with misrepresenting the notorious letter to the Bill of Rights 
society, which it was all-important for Junius to have published, it being, in 
vulgar style, a tub thrown out to the whale. And, to accomplish this, it was 
necessary for Junius to reveal himself to his friend, Woodfall. No delicacy 
therefore was any longer required between them in respect to Wilkes ; although 



390 JjETTBRS of JUNIUS 

true :* what do you mean by affirming that the Dowager is 
better? I tell you that she suckles toads from morning till 
night.f 1 think I have now done my duty to you, so farewell- 



it might be thought good pohcy to pay him some httle attention, to prevent any 
suspicion arising on his part respecting the author. 

There were, probably, other private letters from Junius to Woodfall, which 
have not been laid before the public. 

The charge of treachery here made exactly suits the parties from whence it 
came, and to whom it was applied, if my conception of the former be correct. 
Mr. Woodfall, as a blind, in my opinion, has divided the stars so as to read Wilkes 
John. — ^m. Ed. 

* The allusion is to a cause which was tried at the Summer Assizes for the 
county of Surrey, in 1771, Meares and Shipley against Ansell, Tor a trespass, in 
which his lordship was supposed to have given a very partial charge in favor of 
the defendant, who hereby obtained a verdict. The plaintiffs, however, on the 
Michaelmas Term following, moved the court of Common Pleas for a new trial, 
on the ground of the misdirection of the judge. The judge was called upon for 
his report, which he could not make without sending to the plaintiff's attorney 
for his affidavit of the transaction. — He made liis report at last, to wliich he sub- 
joined that he was perfectly satisfied with the verdict of the jury. — The court of 
Common Pleas was clearly of opinion, that lord Mansfield had acted contrary to 
every principle of evidence both in law and equity, in admitting Matthews and 
Hiscox to give parole evidence, contrary to a clear explicit agreement in writing 
which they had attested — and asserted that, if such a practice was to obtain, it 
would go a great way towards subverting the statute of frauds and perjuries, and 
would be a most dangerous inlet to perjury, and a means of rendering men's pro- 
perties very precarious and insecure. The court therefore set aside the verdict, 
and ordered a new trial ; and it appeared to the court to be so gross a misdirec- 
tion, that it dispensed with the usual terms of payment of costs. Although lord 
Mansfield, in his direction to the jury, represented the trespasses as small and 
insignificant, and the action as litigious, the court of Common Pleas said the 
trespasses were obstinate, wilfiil, and malicious. 

Mr. Rowlinson, the plaintiff's attorney, felt so dissatisfied with the conduct of 
lord Mansfield upon the occasion, that in the same term a motion was made at 
his instigation, to have his name struck off the rolls of the court of King's Bench, 
which was, after some expressions of astonishment, acquiesced in, when he was 
immediately admitted into the Common Pleas. 

t He refers to the following paragraph in the Public Advertiser for December 
6,1771:— 

" We have the pleasure to assure the pubhc, from the most undoubted autho- 
rity, that the repeated accounts of her royal highness the princess dowager 
of Wales being very ill, and her life in great danger, are entirely false, such 
reports being only calculated to promote the shamcfiil spirit of gambling, by 
insurance on lives." The princess dowager was at this time afflicted with n 
rancer. and died on the 8th of January in the following year. 



TO H. S. WOODFALL. 391 

No. 47. 

Dec. 17,1771. 

Make your mind easy about me, I believe you are an honest 
man, and I am never angry.* — Say to-morrow " We are 
desired to inform Scaevola, that his private note was received 
with the most profound indifference and contempt."f I see his 
design. The duke of Grafton has been long labouring to detach 
Camden. This Scaevola is the wretchedest of all fools, and 
a dirty knave. 

Upon no account, nor for any reason whatsoever, are you to 
write to me, until I give you notice. 

When the book is finished, let me have a set bound in vellum, 
gilt, and lettered Junius I. II. as handsomely as you can — ^the 
edges gilt — let the sheets be well dried before binding. — I must 
also have two sets in blue paper covers. This is all the fee I 
shall ever desire of you. I think you ought not to publish 
before the second week in January. 

The London Packet is not worth our notice. I suspect 
Garrick, and I would have you hint so to him. 

No. 48. 

January 6,1772. 

I have a thing to mention to you in great confidence. I expect 
your assistance, and rely upon your secrecy. 

There is a long paper ready for publication, but which must 
not appear until the morning of the meeting of parliament, nor 
be announced in any shape whatsoever.! Much depends upon 
its appearing unexpectedly. If you receive it on the 8th or 
9th instant, can you in a day or two have it composed, and two 
proof sheets struck off and sent me ; and can you keep the 
press standing ready for the Public Advertiser of the 2 1st, and 



* He had received a note from Mr. Woodfall, vindicating himself from any 
improper motive in his communication to Mr. Garrick, which has been already 
referred to. 

f The information to Sca;vola was duly communicated in the Public Adver- 
tiser: and the flippancy of this writer's style, and the coquetry of his political 
attachments, fully merited the contempt here expressed for him. 

t Letter to lord Mansfield. Junius. No. lxvhi. 



392 LETTERS OP JDNItJS 

can all this be done with such secrecy that none of your people 
shall know what is going forward, except the composer, and 
can you rely on his fidelity ? Consider of it, and if it be possi- 
ble, say yes, in your paper to-morrow. 

I think it will take four full columns at the least, but I under- 
take that it shall sell. — It is essential that I should have a proof 
sheet and correct it myself. 

Let me know if the books are ready that 1 may tell you what 
to do with them. 

No. 49. 

Saturday, January 11, 1772. 

Your failing to send me the proofs, as you engaged to do, 
disappoints and distresses me extremely.* It is not merely to 
correct the press (though even that is of consequence,) but for 
another most material purpose.-\ This will be entirely defeated, 
if you do not let me have the two proofs on Monday morning. 

The paper itself, is, in my opinion, in the highest style of 
Junius, and cannot fail to sell. — My reason for not announcing 
it was that the party might have no time to concert his mea- 
sures with the ministry. But, upon reflection, I think it may 
answer better (in order to excite attention) to advertise it the 
day before, Junius to lord chief justice Mansfield to-morrow. 

Quoting from memoiy, I have made a mistake about Black- 
stone, where I say that he confines the power to the court, and 
does not extend it to the judges separately. Those lines must be 
omitted. — The rest is right. — If you have any regard for me 
or for the cause, let nothing hinder your sending the proofs on 
Monday. 

No. 50. 

January 16,1772. 
1 return you the proof, with the errata, which you will be so 
good as to correct carefully. I have the greatest reason to be 
pleased with yom' care and attention, and wish it were in my 



* Of Junius, No. lxtiii. referred to in the preceding letter. 
t He seems to allude to a promise, or expectation, of legal assistance from 
some friendly quarter. 



TO H. S. WOODFALIi. 



393 



puwer to render you some essential service. — ^Announce it on 
Monday. 

No. 51. 
(Private.) Saturday, Jan. 18, 1770. 

The gentleman* who transacts the conveyancing part of our 
correspondence tells me there was much difficulty last night. 
For this reason, and because it could be no way material for me 
to see a paper on Saturday which is to appear on Monday, I 
resolved not to send for it. — Your hint of this morning, relates 
to this.f — I am truly concerned to see that the publication of 
the book is so long delayed. — It ought to have appeared before 
the meeting of parliament. — By no means would I have you 
insert this long letter,J if it made more than the difference of 
two days in the publication. Believe me the delay is a real 
injury to the cause. The letter to M.J may come into a new 
edition. 

Mr. Wilkes seems not to know that Morris published that 
letter.§ — I think you should set him right. 

No. 52. 

Jan. 25, 1772. 
Having nothing better to do, I propose to entertain myself 
and the public, with torturing that ************ Barrington.H 
He has just appointed a French broker his deputy for no reason 



* Of this gentleman nothing is known, 

f " Miliar e necessarium €sf." Answer to correspondents, Jan. 18, 1772. 

I Letters of Junius, No. lxviii, 

§ Mr. Robert Morris was a barrister, who took a very active part in the city 
disputes, and on the popular side, and was secretary to the Bill of Rights Society 
For a further account of him, see note to Miscellaneous Letters, No. xcni. He 
occasionally wrote in the Public Advertiser. The publication of the letter alluded 
to, Wilkes had attributed to a Mr. Cawdron. 

II Lord Harrington was at this time secretary for the War Department. He 
had uniformly exhibited himself unfriendly to the popular cause, and when in 
the lower house, made the motion in 1769, for expelling Wilkes, which was 
seconded by Rigby. The letter that accompanied this note is numbered cv. in 
the Miscellaneous collection, and the signature of Junius will be found to bf 
•exchanged for that of Veteran. 



394 LETTERS OF JUNIbS 

but his relation to Bradshaw. I hear from all quarters, that 
it is looked upon as a most impudent insult to the army. — ^Be 
careful not to have it known to come from me. Such an 
insignificant creature is not worth the generous rage of Junius, 
I am impatient for the book. 

No. 53. 

Monday, Feb. 3, 1772. 

I confess I do not see the use of the table of contents. I 
think it will be endless and answer no purpose ; — An index of 
proper names and materials would in my opinion be sufficient. 
You may safely defy the malice of Mr. Wheble.* Whoever 
buys such a book will naturally prefer the author's edition, and I 
think it will always be a book for sale. I really am in no hurry 
about that set. Purling, 1 hear, is to come in for Eastlow. — 
A sure proof of the connection between him and government. 
I would have you open any thing that may be brought you for 
me (except from Mr. Wilkes) — and not forward it unless it be 
material. 

That large roll contained a Pamphlet. 

No. 54. 

Monday, Feb. 10, 177^;. 
If you have any thing to communicate, you may send it to 
the original place for once N. E. C. — and mention any new 
place you think proper, west of Temple Bar. The delay of the 
book spoils every thing. 

No. 55. 

Monday Night, Feb. 17, 1772. 
Surely you have misjudged it very much about the book. I 
could not have conceived it possible that you could protract the 
publication so long. — At this time, particularly before Mr. Saw- 
bridge's motion,! it would have been of singular use. You 
have trifled too long with the public expectation. — At a certain 
point of time the appetite palls. — I fear you have already lost 



♦ Wheble had already printed an imperfect edition of thn lettera of Juniu? 
■♦ In favor of fri*Tmicl parhamentp. 



TO H. S. WOODFALL. 395 

the season. — The book, I am sure, will lose the greatest part ol" 
the effect I expected from it. — But I have done. 

No. 56. 

About Feb. 22. 1772. 
I do you the justice to believe that the delay has been una- 
voidable. The expedient you propose of printing the Dedica- 
tion and Preface in the P. A. is unadvisable. The attention of 
the public would then be quite lost to the book itself I think 
your rivals will be disappointed. Nobody will apply to tlwm 
when they can be supplied at the fountain head. I hope you 
are too forward to have any room for that letter of Domitian,* 
otherwise it is merely indifferent. The Latin I thought much 
superior to the English. — The intended bill, in consequence of 
the message, will be a most dangerous innovation in the internal 
policy of this country.f What an abandoned prostituted idiot 
is your Lord Mayor. J The shameful mismanagement which 
brought him into office, gave me the first and an unconquerable 
disgust. — ^AU I can now say is, make haste with the book. C. 

The appointment of this broker§ I am told gives universal 
disgust. That ************* || would never have taken a 
step apparently so absurd, if there were not some wicked design 
in it more than we are aware of At any rate the broker should 
be run down. That at least is due to his master. 

No 57. 

Saturday, Feb. 29, 1772. 
I am very glad to see that the book will be out before Saw- 
bridge's motion. There is no occasion for a mark of admiration 
at the end of the motto. But it is of no moment whatsoever. 



* This letter, for the reason here stated, was not printed in the genuine 
edition. 

f The bill alluded to is the Royal Marriage Act. 

X In allusion to the partial and impolitic conduct of Mr. Nash, at this time 
lord mayor, upon the common questions of city pohtics brought before him, espe- 
cially in refusing to call a common hall, agreeably to a request very generally 
signified to him for this purpose. 

§ Chamier. || Lord Barrington. 



396 LETTERS OP JUNIUS 

When you see Mr. W. pray return him my thanks for tlie 
trouble he has taken. I wish he had taken more.* — I should be 
glad to have a set, sewed, left at the same place to-morrow 
evening. Let it be well sealed up. C. 

No. 58. 

Tuesday, March 3, 1772. 

Your letter was twice refused last night, and the waiter as 
often attempted to see the person who sent for it. — I was im- 
patient to see the book, and tliink I had a right to that attention 
a httle before the general publication.! When I desired to have 
two sets sewed and one bound in vellum, it was not from a 
principle of economy. I despise such little savings, and shall 
still be a purchaser. — If 1 was to buy as many sets as I want, 
it would be remarked. 

Pray let the two sets be well parcelled up and left at the bar 
of Munday's Coffee-house, Maiden Lane, with the same direc- 
tion, and with orders to be delivered to a chairman, who will 
ask for them in the course of to-morrow evening. FarewelL 

No. 59. 

Thursday, March 5, 1772. 

Your letters with the books are come safe to hand. The 
difficulty of corresponding arises from situation, and necessity 
to which we must submit. Be assured} I will not give you 
more trouble than is unavoidable. — If the vellum books are not 
yet bound, I would wait for the index. If they are, let me know 
by a line in the P. A. — When they are ready, they may safely 
be left at the same place as last night. 

On your account I was alarmed at the price of the book.'— 
But of the sale of books I am no judge, and can only pray 
for your success. — What you say about the profits J is very hand- 
some. I like to deal with such men. As for myself, be assured 



* Mr. Wilkes, at the request of Junius, perused and revised the Dedication and 
Preface to the genuine edition of the letters. 

t The genuine edition of the letters was published on the third of March . 
1772. 

\ Woodfall made Junius an offer of half the profits of the book, 



TO 11. S. WOODFALL. 39? 

that I am tar above all pecuniary views, and no other person I 
think has any claim to share with you. Make the most of it 
therefore, and let all your views in life be directed to a solid, 
however moderate independence. Without it no man can be 
happy, nor even honest. 

If I saw any prospect of uniting the city once more, I would 
readily continue to labor in the vineyard. Whenever Mr. Wilkes 
can tell me that such an union is in prospect, he shall hear of 
me. 

Quod si quis existimat me aut voluntate esse mutata, aut 
dehilitata virtute, aut animo fracto, vehementer errat. Fare- 
well. 

In the Preface, p. 20, line 7, read unreasonable, 
p. 26, — 18, — accuracy.* 

Junius, in the foregoing letter, observes that, " The difficulty 
of corresponding arises frmn situation" This is the first time 
that Junius hints at his situation as being at a distance from 
Woodfall's office, and it may be presumed he would not now 
have done so had not Woodfall been acquainted with his resi- 
dence. Heretofore when any delay occured in his correspon- 
dence, he had been out of town ; but the real fact now appears 
evident, that the country was his place of abode. John Home 
resided at Brentford, about six miles ^'om London. The reader 
is left to make his own inference. 

The Latin quotation in this letter is thus translated by Dr. 
Good, and inserted in the preliminary essay to G. Woodfall's 
Junius. 

" But if any one believes me to be changed in will, weakened 
in integrity, or broken in courage, he errs grossly." 

* These errors are corrected in the present edition. — Ed. 

Notwithstanding the copy before us was printed in Philadelphia in 1813, in 
which many imperfections of former editions are corrected, new copies are 
continually issuing without amendments. This is an unpardonable neglect. 
On referring to a Boston stereotype edition of 1827, I find the first passage 
alluded to above is still printed as follows ; *' If he agreed in opinion with lord 
Mansfield, his discourse was impertinent, ridiculous, and unreasonable.'''' The 
last word, after the explicatives preceding it, is extremely feeble and inapplicable. 
■■-.%i. FJ. 



398 LETTERS OF JUNIUS 

This passage, as connected with the preceding paragraph, 
has a particular reference to Wilkes, and his name might with 
propriety be substituted for quis (any one) and the passage read 
thus; "But if Wilkes believes me," &c. Now, could this 
language be used by a friend of Wilkes ? Junius as a writer 
under that signature was on perfect good terms with Wilkes ; 
and although there was a difference in opinion on some points, 
this did not lead to any expression of hostile feelings between 
them. In their correspondence Wilkes said, " I am satisfied that 
Junius now means me well, and I wish to merit more than his 
regard, \usfriendship." — " 1 wish to comply with every direction 
of Junius, to profit by his hints, and to have the permission of 
writing to him on any important occasion." — " I only take up 
the pen to say that^I think myself happy in his (Junius's) ap- 
probation, that a line of applause from him gives the same brisk 
circulation to my spirits, as a kiss from Chloe, and that I mean 
soon to communicate to him a project of importance." 

These passages express in the strongest terms the high con- 
sideration in which Junius was held by Wilkes. Nor does 
Junius fall short, on his part, in admiration and respect for the 
virtues of Wilkes. He says, " You will recollect, sir, that the 
public opinion of you rises every day, and that you must enlarge 
your plan as you proceed, since you have every day a new 
acquisition of credit to m&intain." In his last letter to Wilkes, 
when the latter had shown symptoms of distrust, he says, " When 
you have satisfied your understanding that there may be reasons 
why Junius should attack the king, the minister, &c. and yet 
should desert or betray the man who attacks the house of lords, 
I would still appeal to your heart. Or if you have any scruples 
about that kind of evidence, ask your amiable daughter whom 
you so implicitly confide in — is it possible that Junius should be- 
tray me ?" 

It is evident from the above extracts that the foregoing Latin 
quotation could have no reference to these loving friends, Junius, 
as a writer under a fictitious signature, and Wilkes ; but must 
apply to Wilkes and Junius personally, as enemies who had 
long contended, and whose contention had injured the common 
cause which they both professed to support. 



TO H. S. WOODFAl-L. 399 

No. 60. 

May 4, 1772. 
If pars pro toto be meant for me, I must beg the favour of 
you to recall it. At present it would be difficult for me to 
receive it. — ^When the books are ready, a Latin verse will be 
sufficient. 

No. 61. 

Sunday, May 6, 1772. 
I am in no manner of hurry about the books. I hope the 
sale has answered. — I think it will always be a saleable book. 
The inclosed is fact, and I wish it could be printed to-morrow. 
It is not worth announcing. The proceedings of this wretch 
are unaccountable. There must be some mystery in it which 
I hope will soon be discovered to his confusion. — Next to the 
duke of Grafton, I verily believe that the blackest heart in the 
kingdom belongs to lord Barrington. 

No. 62. 

May 10, 1772. 
Pray let this be announced, Memoirs of lord Barrington in 
our next. Keep the author a secret. 

No. 63. 

January 19, 1773. 

I have seen the signals thrown out for your old friend aijd 
correspondent. Be assured that I have had good reason for not 
complying with them. In the present state of things, if I were 
to write again, I must be as silly as any of the horned cattle, 
that run mad through the city, or as any of your wise aldermen. 
I meant the cause and the public. Both are given up. I feel 
for the honor of this country, when I see that there are not ten 
men in it, who will unite and stand together upon any one ques- 
tion. But it is all ahke, vile and contemptible. 

You have never flinched that I know of; and I shall always 
rejoice to hear of your prosperity. 

If you have, any thing to communicate (of moment to your 
fjf'lf) you may use the last address, and give a hint. 



400 LETTERS OP JUNIUS 



No. 64. 



Sir, — I have troubled you with the perusal of two letters, as 
that of the prior date accounts for the delay of not sending the 
books sooner ; and this acquaints you that I did not get them 
out of the bookbinder's hands till yesterday ; nor though I 
desired them to be finished in the most elegant manner possible, 
are they done so well as I wished. But, sir, if the manner of 
the contents and index are not agreeable to you, they shall be 
done over again according to any directions you shall please to 
favom' me with. — With respect to city politics, I fear the breach 
is too wide ever to be again closed, and even my friend Mr. 
Wilkes lost some of his wonted coolness at the late election on 
Sawbridge, Oliver, &c. scratching against him.* I hope you 
will believe that however agreeable to me it must be to be 
honored with your correspondence, I should never entertain 
the most distant wish that one ray of your splendour should be 
diminished by your continuing to write. — Mr. Wilkes indeed 
mentioned to me the other day that he thought the East India 
Company a proper subject ; and asked if I could communicate 
any thing to you, to which my reply was that I could not tell, 
(as I did not know whether you might chuse to be intruded upon.) 
You will perceive by the papers that two persons have forced 
themselves upon us, who, without a tythe of Mr. Wilkes's 
abilities^ imagine the public will look up to them as their deliver- 
ers ; but they are most egregiously mistaken, as every one who 
possesses a grain of common sense hold them in almost utter 
contempt. You will probably guess who I mean, and were I 
capable of drawing a parallel, I should borrow some part of it 

from Shakespeare's lago and Roderigo. Should it please the 

Almighty to spare your life till the next general election, and I 

* Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Townshend were, after a sharp contest, returned to tlie 
court of aldermen for them to make their election of one of these gentlemen to 
the mayoralty for the year 1772, when their choice fell upon Mr. Alderman 
Townshend, in consequence of Sawbridge and Ohver scratching against Wilkes. 
The candidates for that office, with the number which they polled, were as under. 

Mr. Alderman Wilkes 2301 ; Townshend 2278 ; Halifax 2126 ; Shakespeare 
1912. 



TO II. S. WOODFALL. 



401 



should at that time exist, I shall hope you will deign to instruct 
me for whom I should give my vote, as my wish is to be repre- 
sented by the most honest and able, and I know there cannot 
be any one who is so fit to judge as yourself. I have no con- 
nexions to warp me, nor am I acquainted with but one person 
who would speak to me on the subject, and that gentleman is, 
I believe, a true friend to the real good of his country ; I mean 
Mr. Glover, the author of Leonidas. As I thought sergeant 
Glynn deserving of something more than the mere fees of his 
profession, for the pains he took upon my trial, I have made a 
purchase of a small freehold at Brentford by way of qualifica- 
tion, in order to convince him, if he should offer himself at the 
next election, whenever it should happen, that I hold his services 
in grateful remembrance. But I am since informed that it is 
not his intention, and that lord Percy is to be joined with sir 
W, B. Proctor, who is to be supported by the duke of Northum- 
berland's interest. — I have heard much of a most trimming 
letter from Mr. Stewart to lord Mansfield on the Douglass cause, 
but cannot possibly get a copy, which probably would be a good 
letter to print. 

If, sir, you should not disapprove of the contents and index, 
I thought of advertising them in the manner of the enclosed 
form, if I have your permission so to do, but not otherwise. — 
May I beg the favour of a line in answer ? Believe me, sir, to 
be, with gratitude and respect, your much obliged humble 
servant to command, 

HENRY SAMPSON WOODFALL. 

Sunday, March 1, 1773. 

Sawbridge, notwithstanding the assurances of Junius to the 
contrary, continued, as Junius knew and intended he should, a 
decided opponent of Wilkes. Of his friendship and that of 
Oliver and Townshend for Home, sufficient notice has been 
taken. I will add a short account of Mr. Glynn, to whom Mr. 
Woodfall presented a freehold at Brentford, taken from Ste- 
phens's memoirs. 

51 



40*^ j,£tt£ks of junius to h. s. woodfall, 

" Mr. Sergeant Glynn. 
This gentleman, who was an able and celebrated lawyer, 
lived in great friendship with Mr. Home, and was indebted to 
him for being chosen one of the knights of the shire for Middle- 
sex, without the expenditure of a single shilling. He was 
afterwards, on account of his upright conduct, elected recorder 
of the city of London, and thus sat in parliament for the first 
county, while he acted as the judge and legal adviser of the 
first city in the empire, until his death. He had exerted himself 
with equal energy and ability against lord Mansfield's doctrine 
of attachment for a supposed contempt in case of libel, and 
was the first practitioner who had dared to controvert the legal 
opinion of the chief justice. He had also given his gratuitous 
assistance during the late contests. The following are the 
]irecise words in which he was recommended to the county by 
Mr. Home : — ' I beg leave to present Mr. Glynn to your choice^ 
I know his principles to be as firm, and his heart as incorruptible, 
as his conduct is modest and moderate, and his abilities uncon- 
tradicted.' " 

During the dispute between Mr. Home and Mr. Wilkes, he 
(Glynn) bore testimony to the unjust accusation adduced against 
his friend, by means of the following letter : — 

Jan. 16, 1771. 
" The charge against the rev. Mr. Home, as far as respects my 
election, is false and groundless : with regard to the other 
charges, my experience of the integnty and disinterestedness 
of Mr. Home entitles him to my testimony, if his general 
character had not made it totally unnecessary. 

t. GLYNN." 

Thus it appears that the friends of Junius, the rev. Mr. John 
Home and Henry Sampson Woodfall, are inseparable, the 
pretended quarrel of Junius and Home to the contrary not- 
withstanding. 



APPENDIX, 



No. 1. 
THE ELOQUENCE OF JUNIUS, 

VIEWED IN COMPARISON WITH THAT OF OTHER ORATORICAL 
WRITERS, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 

Bt ROBERT HERON, Esa. 

Mr. Heron appears to liave studied his author with the most minute and cir- 
cumspect attention, and in an eloquent and masterly essay, prefixed to his 
edition of Junius, has unwittingly portrayed the character, the acquirements, the 
talents and sentiments, in short, the very life of John Home Tooke, as the fol- 
lowing extracts will show. 

" Junius is, of all orators ancient or modern, he who keeps the most 
steadily in view the object of his eloquence. A few sacrifices he 
indeed makes to personal vanity, and to the pride of conscious 
ability arid success. In his first letter, he wished to alarm adminis- 
tration, — to assume the character of a presiding demon, in regard 
to the discontents of the people and the malice of faction, — to show, 
at once, that depth of understanding, and that energetic vehemence 
of passion, which were requisite to make even persons of a charac 
ter of intellect superior to that of the multitude, gladly rank them- 
selves behind him, as their leader. Such were, obviously, his 
purposes. Is there a line in his Introductory Letter v/hich does 
not tend, in the strongest and most direct manner, to consummate 
themi" 

'' Inconsiderate persons have alleged, that, of all the advefSanes 



404 APPENDIX. 

of Junius, Home approached the nearest to him in controversial 
art. But, the truth is, that Junius, when he spared Home, spared 
him for the sake of his adherents, and in order to prevent the 
threatened division of the city patriots.* In the attack on lord 
Mansfield, it may seem that undisguised virulence is suffered to 
burst forth injudiciously ; and I should think, that, in one or two 
instances in it, prudence must have been lost in particular resent- 
ment. f But Junius knew that the character of fearless boldness, 
in his invectives, was his best recommendation to authority with the 
mob. Lord Mansfield, too, was at that time exceedingly odious to 
all ranks of those who were in the same party with Junius ; and he 
was, really, and perhaps not altogether unjustly, believed to be, as 
a lawyer and judge, too favorable to the influence of prerogative 
iii the courts, and ready to advance its authority by introducing the 
maxims of the imperial law of Rome, into the interpretation of the 
laws of England. Hence, boldness to arraign him, talents power- 
ful to cover him with confusion, and pertinacious vehemence return- 
ing incessantly to the attack, and urging it with fury, were peculi- 
arly adapted to produce against lord Mansfield, that strong effect 
which Junius hoped from them." 

" His letters abound with those deep and general, yet original, 
observations on human character, and on the fortunes of human 
life, which can be produced only by genius and judgment matured 
by experience, and fully informed by much and various converse 
both with books and with mankind. His observations have the 
sententiousness, the profundity, and even a cast of the malignity 
of those of Tacitus : they breathe somewhat of the solemn pensive 
wisdom of Johnson : and they mingle with these qualities, the 



* To say, Junivs spared Home, is to admit that Home obtained a victory over 
hira ; and incmsiderate persons, it seems, are not aware of the views of Junius 
in permitting it. I have before commented upon the reason here given, and I 
beheve shown that it is untenable and insufficient. This is the important point 
upon which the whole controversy about Junius mainly depends. I contend, 
and have endeavored to prove, that the dispute was an amicable one, or rather, 
that both sides of the question were maintained by the same person. The 
great difficulty that commentators have had to account for the lameness of 
Junius in this case, is a strong evidence of the fact. • 

t Mr. Home, in a great number of instances has shown a. particular, an invet- 
erate, an unconquerable) resentment towards lord Mansfield. One of the first 
productions of his pen was a violent philippic against him. 



APPENDIX. 405 

lively and keenly sarcastic discrimination of Swift. But, they 
possess, besides, a race of originality. They are not borrowed 
from the stores of those writers, but add new riches to the common 
stock. Junius thinks like Johnson, like Tacitus, like Swift: but 
he does not tamely echo their thoughts. He is another and a greater 
master in the school of artists, not a mere copyist. It is by this 
grand quality in a particular manner, that the true critic may easily 
distinguish between the writings of Junms, and those of the puerile 
imitators of his eloquence, to whom, for lack of a known owner, 
his letters have been sometimes hastily ascribed. Had he no other 
power of eloquence ; were his letters destitute of all those anec- 
dotes by which they are so interesting to malignant curiosity : did 
they not perpetuate the memory of one of the most important 
popular contentions that have not been carried to a destructive 
height ; did they even not preserve the political manners of Eng- 
land for the time, with all the force of an historical painting adding 
the comic manner of the Dutch, to the epic grandeur of the Italian 
school ; yet, on account solely of the great original truths which these 
letters contain, they would deserve to he studied, with unwearied dili- 
gence, h^ readers of every class, from the school-boy of the highest 
form, to the statesman and the philosopher." 

" The knowledge of such general truths, can be the result only 
of an extensive, minute, and accurate knowledge in detail, of the 
characters, manners, fortunes, interests, and changing humours of 
a great variety of individuals. That Junius certainly possessed 
this knowledge — has been stated in speaking of the propriety and 
judgment with which he makes every thing co-operate in every 
letter towards the chief design. Examine his account of any one 
character that is the subject of his praise or invective ! He may, — ■ 
indeed, he does often, maliciously depart from the truth ; but he 
departs with a verisimilitude, and with a skill in flattery or carica- 
ture, which more strikingly evince his knowledge of the turns of 
character and passion, than if he had rigorously adhered to the 
truth. In the contest with sir William Draper, how he probes the 
soul ! With what art he tortures a man of no mean talents, to con- 
fession ! He was thought to have dwelt with outrageous severity 
towards the duke of Bedford : and never was there a more masterly 
stroke in eloquence, than that with which he contrives to disarm 
the public resentment, and to deprive the duke of that sympathy 
which seemed to have been raised in his favor, by representing 



406 APPENDIX. 

him as utterly imfeeling, and a stranger to that distress which public 
compassion supposed him to have suffered from the invectives of 
Junius." 

" In physical science he appears to have had considerable infor- 
mation. He induces from it some of his happiest and most impres- 
sive allusions. He introduces them with an ease and propriety 
which evince him to have clearly and powerfully apprehended the 
principles of the sciences to which they belong. Of that chemistri/ 
which was known at the time when he wrote, he was considerably 
a master. He was not ignorant of the principles and the forms 
of demonstration belonging to mathematics. Of that which is, by 
way of eminence, called natural philosophy., he seems to have had. 
also, a competent knowledge." 

" His acquaintance with the classical writers of Greece and 
Rome, is sufficiently evinced by the character of his composition, 
resembling the force and compression of Demosthenes, of Thucy- 
dides, of Sallust, and of Tacitus. It is proved by the splendor of 
his metaphors, worthy of Virgil, Pindar, and Homer. It is plain, 
also from his quotations and allusions expressly indicating, that he 
had certain passages of Tacitus and others, within his I'ecollection, 
at different times, while he wrote. It is easy to perceive, that he 
had added to the study of the ancient classics, that, also, of the 
best French writers. Montesquieu, whose style and manner of 
composition had been for about five and twenty years before Junius 
wrote, highly popular in England, — had undoubtedly been, in a 
very particular manner, the subject of his study. And, it is evident, 
that he was no stranger t» the wit of Voltaire, nor always averse 
from imitating it. Of English writers, I should conceive him to 
have been conversant chiefly with Locke, ChiUingworth, Boling- 
broke, Robertson, Johnson, and with some of the pieces of Sheb- 
beare. Undoubtedly, he was much conversant with books of law, 
and with the simple precise writings belonging to actual business." 

" Whence had he that readiness of disrespectful allusion to the 
Bible, and the ceremonies of religion, which is so often displayed 
in these letters ? Perhaps from familiar acqauintance with the 
Holy Scriptures, the Book of Common Prayer, and the ordinary 
services of the church :* More probably, from the imitation of Vol- 



. ■* It is a wonder that Mr. Heron, when he wrote the above passage, did not 
think of parson Horrt'. 



APPENDIX. 407 

taire, Pope, and other wits, whose attempts to make the ceremonies 
of religion, subjects of profane merriment, were, thirty years since, 
too much admired by persons who should have had piety and taste 
to disdain and check the abuse. Or shall I venture to conjecture, 
that Chilhngworth and Pascal were much studied by him, even 
while he was engaged in the composition of these letters ; and, 
that like every other writer, he insensibly transferred into his own 
works, some striking allusions from -he books which he read ? His 
allusions to religion, so fiar as they are contemptuous, relate chiefly 
to the absurdities of the Roman Catholic religion ; a fact from 
which we may fairly infer, either that the course of his education 
and the incidents of his life, led him into a particular acquaintance 
with these, and an indignant disgust against them,* or else that he, 
in this instance, merely echoed the voices of Pascal and Chilling- 
worth." 

" His knowledge of the constitutional law was great and accurate. 
But the consideration of this knowledge in detail is reserved to be 
the subject of a separate essay. But, knowledge considered 
separately from the active energies of genius which are in habitual 
exertion, will never account sufficiently for the production of such 
a work as these letters. What were, then, the habits and personal 
character of this Junius ? — It is sufficiently clear, that his under- 
standing was naturally, and by the whole train of culture which it 
had received, a vigorous one. It must have been in habits of in- 
cessant activity : never languishing in a feeble, careless diffusion 
of its conceptions ; never satisfying itself with half-discernment, nor 



* The residence of Mr. Home in France and Italy, gave him full opportunity 
to become well acquainted with the Roman Catholic religion. For his opinion 
of it, see p. Ill, this volume. To which may be added the following observations 
made by him in opposition to England's interfering inbehalf of Spain, in 1808. 

"The Spaniards, he declared, were so degenerate a people, that every change 
must be for the better ; even conquest and subjugation themselves, horrible as 
they doubtless were, ought to be contemplated as a melioration of their condition. 
What, but the sword of a foreign and more enlightened nation, could dispel such 
an odious superstition ? such gross and honid ignorance? so despicable and 
perfidious reliance on popery and priestcraft ? Had we not heard that the sacred 
tribunal was protected, supported, and encouraged b" the new government? 
that the banners of the holy office were to be unfolded on the side of liberty ? 
and that the inquisition was to raise a regiment to combat in its behalf? — a 
regiment of inquisitors combating for the freedom of a brave nation ! — foolislf !. 
ridiculous ! — execrable '" . 



408 APPENDIX. 

with obscure knowledge ; ever searching for the strongest relations 
of contrariety or resemblance in the ideas it compared ; chastening 
constantly the train of thought that passed through it, so as not to 
suffer remote and feeble associations to supplant, in that train, 
associations close, strong, and direct. The first principles em- 
bodied into its very texture, were those rather of jurisprudence and 
logic than of metaphysics. Its reasonings were habitually, in the 
cast of those of the lawyer and the polemical logician. It was, 
however, evidently more accustomed to detect the sophisms of 
others, than to adhere inflexibly to attain truth for itself. It can- 
not have been, at any time, left to slumber in idleness." 

" His fancy, — that energy of the mind which is employed, nor 
in deducing truth, but in picturing impressive possibilities, — appears 
to have been very powerful. Reading and the observations of 
life, though not of exterior nature, supplied it with abundant materi- 
als. It was often roused to activity by glowing passion. It was 
often employed in embodying the abstractions of reason and of 
science. It burns in all the higher efforts of his eloquence. Its 
very presence seems entirely lost whenever the plain closeness of 
ratiocination, or the simplicity of the style of business, are alone 
required for the writer's purpose. Never was fancy so vigorous, 
more perfectly under the control of propriety and reason. It is 
that sort o? fancy which has its origin from vigor of understanding, 
and instead of impairing that vigor, serves but to animate and 
strengthen it. Its efforts in these letters must have been the result 
of long previous habit. They cannot have been the first attempts 
of an untried energy. 

" It is easy to perceive, that the writer of these letters, was a 
man of strong glowing passions. That his passions were not wildly 
frantic or irregularly capricious, is sufficiently evident. They never 
lost sight of reason and uiility. But, they must have been high, 
impetuous, and while they yielded in part, to the constraint of reason, 
must also have had power to make his reason become, to a certain 
degree, subservient to their rage. The objects of these passions, 
seem, however, to have been truth, power, liberty, the triumph of 
genius, and the humiliation of those who were hated for rival inter- 
ests or dishonest intentions. The mind of the writer must have 
been nurtured to this cast and tone of passion. He could not have 
thus displayed thero, if they had not been habitually predominant in 



APPENDIX. 4V9 

his breast from early youth to the prime of manhood.* His great- 
est weaknesses of passion are a wild intemperance of rage which 
sometimes carries the stroke beyond its own aim, — and a literary 
vani.y which sometimes exults beyond measure in the success of 
his eloquence." 

" There is nothing in these letters, from which we can infer their 
author to have been in his moral habits, either very bad or uncom- 
monly good. That his moral feelings were eagerly alive, suffi- 
ciently appears. But, it is not improbable, that their exercise 
miglit be directed much rather upon the conduct of others, than on 
his own. These passions, these moral sentiments, such a fancy, 
and so vigorous an understanding, with all the stores of knowledge 
with which they were furnished, bespeak a character in the prime 
of mature manhood,f practically acquainted with active and con- 
templative life, conversant more probably in juridical, but certainly 
political business, full of ambition, and certainly not writing these 
letters merely for political amusement, nor concealing that he was 
the author, upon any other reason, than the inevitable ruin of his 
hopes and fortunes, if he were as such publicly known." 

" It is from the tenor of the following letters, that these facts 
concerning the oratorical and personal character of their author, 
are inferred. Let his character as an orator, — let the qualities of 
the eloquence in these letters, — be compared with whatever in the 
same way, either ancient or modern eloquence can produce ; the 
result of the comparison will, certainly, not be disadvantageous 
to Junius. In knowledge of the principles and modifications of 
human character, in skill to sway the passions of the multitude, in 
extent and accuracy of general science, in ardent oratorical in- 
trepidity, and in the habitual exercise of shrewdness and prudence, 
Demosthenes was not his superior. Of the technical knowledge 
of the rhetorician, of the dialectics and ethics of the schools of that 
age, Cicero possessed, undeniably, a larger portion than can be 



* The biography of Home shows in a very striking manner the applicability 
of the above sentiments to him. In one of his earhest known productions, he 
thus expresses himself: "Spirit of Hampden, Russel, Sidney! animate my 
countrymen ! I invoke not your assistance for myself j for I was born indeed a 
freeman," &c. See page 121, this volume. 

t John Home was in the thirty-third year of his age when the first letter under 
the signature of Junius (included in the author's edition) appeared'. 

52 



410 APPENDIX. 

with truth ascribed to Junius. But, in fearless, manly energy of 
soul, in independent decision of mind, in invigorating and command- 
ing self-confidence, in the power of bringing knowledge by the 
nearest way to the uses of business, we must not venture to com- 
pare the Roman orator with the English. — It is true, that, in his 
famous letter to D'Alembert on the influence of theatrical exhibi- 
tions upon public morality, — in his answer to those who attempted 
the refutation of his paradoxical opinions concerning the relation of 
science to the happiness of human life,- in his epistle of Self- 
Defence, to Beaumont Archbishop of Paris, — Rousseau has, no 
doubt, exei'cised some of the best powers of the true orator. But, 
his eloquence continually wanted that foundation in the principles 
of common sense, and that application to the real affairs of men 
without which eloquence is but the amusement of romantic ingenuity. 
His knowledge was less than that of the author of these letters. 
The letters of Junius have been even attributed to the late Mr. 
Burke. But, Burke, though he had of the forms and exterior 
apparatus of knowledge perhaps much more than Junius, had of 
its soul, its quintessence, its elementary principles, greatly less. In 
sound and manly sense, and in oratorical discretion, he was greatly 
inferior. His knowledge and learning continually o'erinform his 
eloquence so as not seldom to weaken its effects. He had not at 
all that insight into human character which so conspicuously appears 
in the letters of Junius. He knew not to sacrifice the ostentation 
of eloquence to persuasive effect. He used still to affect the 
rhetorician and the man of letters, when he should have thought 
only of doing business in the shortest and most decisive way. No ; 
he was not at all equal to the composition of these letters. His 
eloquence had ever in it much of the diffusion of Cicero's, and the 
romance of Rousseau's : but Rousseau was often more logical than 
Burke. — There is great resemblance between the oratorical efforts 
of the late Mirabeau, and those of Junius. Mirabeau has indeed 
more than Junius of what seems an unseasonable use of metaphy- 
sics. Yet, there was perhaps good sense in the use of metaphysics 
to persuade those to whom Mirabeau had to address himself. In 
similar circumstances Junius might possibly have done as much. 
David Williams does not indeed possess that deep and various 
knowledge which is displayed in these letters. In discarding from 
his mind, the prejudices of precedent and old vulgar opinion, he 
has certainly gone too far towards adopting the prejudices of inno- 



APPENDIX. 41 1 

vation in the different subjects of scientific inquiry. Yet, from his 
writings may be gleaned passages approaching more nearly than 
any to be found in the writings of other English writers, to the 
general energy of thought, the fire of sentiment, the shrewd dis- 
crimination, and the closeness of reasoning, which distinguish 
Junius. Williams, loo, unites energy with natural simplicity of 
style, more successfully than has been done by Junius in the most 
elaborately eloquent parts of his letters. There are in the Letters 
of an Old Statesman to a Young Prince, which I suppose the work 
of Williams, a few occasional paragraphs which no writer ancient 
or modern has ever excelled. There are in the writings of the 
late Dr. Gilbert Stuart, and in those of his imitator Godwin, occa- 
sional touches of an eloquence simpler in style, yet scarce less 
energetic than that of Junius. But, neither Stuart nor Godwin 
shows any thing of that deep knowledge of human character, or 
that skill in affairs, of which the writer of the letters of Junius was 
indisputably possessed." 

" The power of classical allusion, the familiar acquaintance with 
the rites of the Romish religion, the admirable skill in the nicest 
points of constitutional law which appear in the following letters, 
are qualities well known not to have belonged even to the manly 
and accomplished mind of Hamilton."* 

" In the whole, excuse malignity, vanity, an occasional excess 
of epigrammatic turns, a structure of sentences sometimes labored 
to harshness and almost to obscurity, with a few incongruities of 
metaphor : and these letters must be owned to be, in all other 
respects, probably the most vigorous and faultless specimen of 
human eloquence, that the world has yet seen," 

No. II. 
EXAMINATION OF H. S. WOODFALL. 

An abstract of the testimony and cross-examination of Henry 
S. Woodfall, on the trial of John Home, in 1777, before lord 
Mansfield and a special jury, for an alleged libel against the 
government, in publishing the advertisement, in June 1775, as re- 
corded in page 375, this volume. 

This is probably the most singular cross-examination that ever 

* W. Gerard Hamilton, M'ho had been suspected to be author of Junius. — 
^lm. Ed. 



412 APPENDIX. 

took place in any court. The ostensible object of the defendant 
appears to be to strengthen the testimony of the witness against 
him ; whilst his real motive evidently was to endeavour to show, 
that his constant practice was to direct the printer to furnish the 
fullest evidence against him for every Lhing published at his request, 
in case he, the printer, should be called to account for the same, 
and thereby destroy at once every possible conjecture that he could 
be the author of Junius's letters. Upon any other supposition, the 
folly and absurdity of his conduct upon this occasion, would exhibit 
him as one of the weakest and most trifling of men. His fictions 
quarrel with Junius, to be sure, had done wonders in his behalf; 
but still that does not appear to have been sufficient completely to 
quiet his own mind, and every collateral means is resorted to for 
the purpose of quashing any germ of suspicion. 

Henry Sampson Woodfall, sm^orn. 
Examined by Mr. Wallace. — What business are you? — A printer. 
Do you print any newspaper ? — Yes. What paper ? — The Public 
Advertiser. Look at these two papers, (showing the witness the 
manuscripts of the advertisements.) The witness inspects the 
manuscripts. Have you ever seen these papers before ? — Yes. 
When did you see the first of them ? — About the 7th of June, 1775, 
as near as I can recollect. By what means did you come by the 
sight of it ? — Mr. Home, the defendant, gave it me. For what 
purpose ? — To publish in the Public Advertiser. Did you accord, 
ingly publish it ? — I did. Had you any other directions from Mr. 
Home ? — Yes. — He desired me to send it to several other papers, 
which I did. Do you recollect the names of any of them ^ — The 
whole, I believe, of them ; I cannot exactly recollect. Did you 
follow his directions ? — I did. Was any thing paid for it ? Yes. 
Mr. Home paid the bill. For the publication ? — Yes. 

[The reader will observe that the case was fully made out, that 
nothing further was required, and that what follows, in the cross- 
examination, was impertinent in the extreme.] 

Cross-examined by the Defendant. 
Mr. Home. — / am very glad to see you, Mr. Woodfall. I desire 
to ask you some questions. Pray, what was your motive for insert- 
ing that advertisement ? — Your desire. Had you no other motive ? 



APPENDIX. 413 

— ^l was paid for it, as advertisements are paid for. Pray, was it 
by accident or by my desire, that there should be a witness to see 
me write that advertisement ? — By your desire. And did I, or did 
I not, formally, before that witness, when called in, deliver that 
paper as my act and deed, as if it had been a bond ? — Yes. It is 
true I did. — Did I not always direct you, if called upon, to furnish 
the fullest proof that you could give ? — You did, sir. Now, then, 
sir, if you^lease, say whether I have ever wni'en anything in your 
newspaper before? — Yes, frequenly. How many years ago, do 
you think ? — The first remarkable thing that I remember, was some- 
thing about sir John Gibbons, about his mistaking Easter for a feast 
or a fast. How long ago is that ? — About the year 1768, about the 
election time. That is about nine years ago ? — Yes. Have I at 
any time desired you to screen me from the laws ! — No. Has not 
the method of my transactions wuh you at all iimes been, that you 
should at all times, for your own sake, if called upon, give me up 
to justice ? — Certainly that has alwaj^s been your desire. Pray, sir, 
were you not once called upon by the house of commons for some- 
thing that I wrote in your paper ] — Yes, sir. Do you remember that 
I did, or did not, when I ook c;ire lo furnish such full proof of this 
advertisement, give you the reason for it ? — I cannot say I recollect 
the reason. I will men ion ii. — Whether was this the reason. 
That in the last transaction before she house of commons, it was 
pretended they let me off, because they could not get full evidence. 
Do you remember whether I rehearsed that or not ; and said, that 
if they now chose to take notice of this advertisement, they should 
not want full evidence ? — I do recollect that conversation. You 
remember that was the reason I gave? — 1 do. Will you please to 
look at these newspapers ? 

{Here Mr. Home artfully skips over the whole time of Junius, 
and shows to the witness several papers of the Public Advertiser 
from May 30, 1775, to June 30, 1777, and proceeds.] 

Pray, sir, do you recollect the contents of the paper of May 30, 
1775 ? — No, upon my soul I do not. You are upon your oalh. — I 
know that indeed. Read that part (pointing a part out ;) read from 
"In provincial congress, April 26, 1774," down to that part (point- 
ing it out.) Mr. Wallace. — The officer should read it ; though not 



414 APPENDIX. 

now. You will be entitled to read it, when you come to your de- 
fence. 

[Mr. Home then asks the witness a number of questions 
respecting Mr. Arthur Lee, not apparently very important to his 
cause, and continues :] 

When were you first applied to, or were you ever applied to, to be 
a witness in this cause ? — I was not. You never were 1 — No. How 
came you to be an evidence ? — I heard that if I could produce my 
author, matters might be better for me ; and as you had no sort of 
objection, (which you told me at the time) I did, of course, produce 
those copies that appeared there, to Messrs. Chamberlayne and 
White, the solicitors for the treasury. Should you, at any time, if 
you had been called upon, have declared that I was the author of 
that advertisement ? — Most certainly ; for you desired it. And 
would have given your evidence ? — Yes. Whom was the applica- 
tion made by? — It was no sort of application at all ; I heard of it. 
By whom ? — My brother. You never refused to furnish evidence 
against the author? — No. You never were applied to, to do it? — 
No ; I was not. You have said that / never desired you to conceal 
me from the law for any thing you published from me. Did you 
never receive any message not to insert any thing in your paper 
about lord Mansfield's earldom ? — No. Upon your oath ? — Upon 
my oath, to the best of my recollection, I never did. From any 
quarter? — No. Sir, were >ou ever sent for by lord Bute? — No; 
I never saw him. Were you not sent for, for inserting a paragraph 
about the king's marriage ? — No ; I am not consulted by the higher 
powers, I assure you. If I had thought you were, I never should 
have trusted you: I do not think you are. — I am much obliged to you 
for your good opinion. Mr. Horne. — I will give you no more 
trouble. 

It must be remembered, that when Mr. Woodfall was prosecuted 
for publishing Junius's letter to the king, he did not then know the 
author, and he might thereibre safely testify as he has done in this 
case, as Mr. Horne did not personally apply to him on that occasion. 
There are two or three instances in which Mr. Horne gave up his 
name to the printer, when he was confident the law would bear him 



APPENDIX. 415 

out. He was always sanguine in the opinion that his conviction on 
the trial under consideration, was contrary to law. 

I notice the following sentiment expressed by Mr. Home upon 
this occasion: 

" The nature of a hbel always makes a jury the best judges of it. 
For a libel (if it be so) is indeed for mischief; it must therefore be 
intelligible to the people; or no mischief could be produced by it. 
If a man writes a libel that a common jury could not understand 
(and you are a special jury, gentlemen) he must fail in his design." 
Junius, in the Preface to his letters, observes : " But the truth is, 
that if a paper, supposed to be a libel upon government, be so ob- 
scurely worded, that twelve common men cannot possibly see the 
seditious meaning and tendency of it, it is in effect no libel. It 
cannot inflame the minds of the people, nor alienate their affections 
from government ; for they no more understand what it means, 
than if it were published in a language unknown to them." 

In the foregoing there is no servile, verbal imitation, on the part 
of Mr. Horne, as in the case of Mr. Francis, but the expression of 
a similar sentiment in other words, carrying an evidence of the 
same genius and person in different situations. 

There is a remarkable coincidence of sentiment in Junius's 
dedication of his letters and Home's opening dialogue on the 
English language, in his Diversions of Purley, which I will notice 
in this place. 

Junius says, " When kings and ministers are forgotten, when 
the force and direction of personal satire is no longer understood, 
and when measures are only felt in their remotest consequences ; 
this book will, I believe, be found to contain principles worthy to 
be trsmsmitted to posterity. When you leave the unimpaired 
hereditary freehold to your children, you do but half your duty. 
Both liberty and property are precarious, unless the possessors 
have sense and spirit enough te defend them." 

Mr. Horne, in the commencement of the dialogue, which is 
feignedly carried on with his friend. Dr. Beadon, makes the follow, 
ing remarks upon his political principles : 

" But I am well contented that my principles, which have made 
so many of your way of thinking angry, should only make you 
laugh. Such however as they are, they need not now be defended 
by me : for they have stood the test of ages ; and they will keep 
their ground, in the general commendation of the world, till men 



llt> APPENDIX. 

forget to love themselves ; though, till then perhaps, they are not 
likely to be seen (nor credited if seen) in the practice of many 
individuals." 

The word commendation, in the copy before me, is printed in 
italics, and no doubt was so in the author's edition, and had refer- 
ence, in my opinion, to the general approbation and applause with 
which the principles maintained in the letters of Junius had been 
hailed. 

Mr. Home upon this occasion makes allusion to his suffering in 
the American cause, at the commencement of our revolution. 
This however, though true, is a mere finesse. He never advocated 
republican government, but was always a stanch friend to the 
English monarchy. 

No. HI. 

DESTRUCTION OF THE JESUITS IN FRANCE. 

Junius, in Miscellaneous letters. No. 21, April, 1768, says, "I 
remember seeing Busembaum, Suarez, Molina, and a score of other 
Jesuitical books, burnt at Paris for their sound casuistry, by the 
hands of the common hangman." This remark has occasioned a 
little inquiry in regard to the time or times at which the destruction 
of the books of the Jesuits took place, and whether or not some of 
those for whom the authorship of Junius is claimed could have been 
witnesses of the event. Although I place little confidence in 
declarations of Junius respecting himself, yet as there was little 
danger of detection to be apprehended from the exposition of a 
circumstance of this kind, it is highly probable that Junius here 
states a fact. And having met with nothing that militated against 
the claims of the person to whom I attribute the letters, out of mere 
curiosity, I took the trouble to examme the case, and die result is as 
follows : — 

On the 6th of August, 1761, the " parliament of Paris took into 
consideration the constirutions of ihe Jesuits, and also extracts from 
their writings, which they had caused to be made for that purpose ; 
but deferred a final judgment upon them for one year. They how- 
ever a' the same time " ordained provisionally the shuttmg up of 
their (the Jesuits) college on the first of October following : the 
king, notwithstanding the represemaiions of the parliament, pro- 
rogued this time till the first of April. 

The parliament then declared to the principal of the college, 



APPUNUIX. 417 

that nothing more remained to them but to put a stop to their 
lectures, by the first of April, 1762. From that time the colleges 
were shut up, and the society began seriously to despair of its 
fortune. At length the 6th of August, 1762, the day so wished 
for by the public, ari'ived : the institute was unanimously condemn- 
ed by the parliament, without any opposition on the part of the 
sovereign ; their vows were declared not binding, the Jesuits 
secularised and dissolved, and their effects alienated and sold." 
See D'Alembert's " Account of the destruction of the Jesuits in 
France." Enghsh translation, London, 1766. 

"On the 17th of Aug. 1762, one hundred and sixty-four works, 
theses, and pamphlets containing resolves of the society of Jesus, 
were, by order of the parliament, torn and burnt in the court of 
tlie palace by the hands of the executioner." See " Calendrier 
Jesuitique pour I'annee 1828." 

•'In the month of Nov. 1764, an edict of the king decided the 
general and definitive expulsion of the Jesuits." See " Histoire 
civile, phisique et morale de Paris" — 1825, Vol. 7, p. 499. 

From the time of the condemnation of the institution of the 
Jesuits, to their final expulsion from France, it is probable many 
bonfires of their books took place, at some one of which Mr. Home 
was likely to be present, for he was in France " considerably more 
than a year" during that period. 

Mr. D'Alembert observes, that "the volume of assertions, 
extracted from the books of the Jesuits, condemned by the magis- 
trates, had been preceded some years before by the condemnation 
of the work of the Jesuit Busembaum, in which the doctrine of 
king-killing is openly maintained : the copy on which this condem- 
nation was pronounced, bore date 1757." 

No. IV. 
EULOGY ON JOHN HORNE TOOKE. 

BY SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. 

I shall preface this short eulogy with an account of the intunacy 
and friendship subsisting between the parties, extracted from Ste- 
phens's Memoirs, as follows : 

In 1797, an event occurred, that contributed not a little to vary 
the life and gratify the feelings of Mr. Tooke. This was the 
introduction of sir Francis Burdett, as a constant visitor and guest 

53 



418 APPENDIX. 

at Wimbledon. The baronet then represented Boroughbridge in 
parliament ; and, having heard much of the talents and acquire- 
ments of the philologist, was desirous of his acquaintance. An 
intimacy soon took place, which at length ripened into friendship. 
They not only conversed daily, but actually studied together ; and 
I have been given to understand, that, during the first year or two 
of their intercourse, several of the Latin classics were perused, 
and many of the favorite passages elucidated, explained, and com- 
mented upon. 

Towards this gentleman the politician of Wimbledon always 
exhibited a marked regard, an unvarying attention, and the most 
tender solicitude. He was zealous for his welfare, and seemed to 
participate in his growing fame and popularity. If report be true, 
soon after their first acquaintance, he endeavoured to form his mind 
to public business, and acted the same part by him, that Socrates 
had done by Alcibiades. 

That it was his aim to render sir Francis serviceable to the 
commonwealth, and that his views respecting him were pure and 
disinterested, will be readily believed by such only as have shared 
his confidence, studied his character, or were acquainted with his 
ruling passion. Whatever may be the event, his good intentions 
can never be called in question by his friends ; and I have always 
thought, that the celebrated epistle from Plutarch to his disciple 
Trajan, might, with a very trifling alteration, be deemed appropriate 
in this place : 

" If you make honor and patriotism the rules of your conduct, 
and the end of your actions, every thing will proceed in harmony 
and order. I have explained to you the spirit of those laws and 
that constitution, that were established by our ancestors, and you 
have nothing to do, but endeavour to carry them into execution. 

Should this be the case, I shall possess the glory of having form- 
ed a statesman to virtue ; but, if otherwise, let this letter testify 
that you did not endanger the empire, under pretence of my coun- 
sels or authority." 

Sir Francis was in the constant habit of repairing to Mr. Tooke's 
during many years, and their daily intercourse was not a little facili- 
tated by the proximity of their houses, which happened to be only 
a few hundred yards distant from each other. At the Sunday 
dinners, he was generally placed on the right hand of his host ; 
and on other occasions, took his seat einy where, without ceremony. 



APPENDIX. 



419 



He always appeared to me, to be modest, unassuming, and rather 
taciturn. As to his poUtical tenets, I shall not say any thing, either 
in commendation or dispraise, the public being already in full 
possession of his opinions, on all the great topics that have lately 
occurred." 

From the London Statesman. 

"Sir. — The following lines (written by sir Francis Burdett, 
Bart.) are on the pedestal of a beautiful marble bust of John 
Home Tooke, a good likeness, executed about twelve years ago by 
the late Mr. Banks, statuary, in Newman-street. I took a copy of 
the lines on the 6th of October, 1800, for my own use ; perhaps 
the readers of the Statesman may be gratified, were you to spare a 
small space for their insertion. I believe the bust is now in the 
possession of sir Francis Burdett, Piccadilly. I am, sir, yours 
very respectfully, T. H, 

Sept. 26, 1811. 

Beheld the man who, touch'd by human woe, 
Stood, though dene, oppression's constant foe : 
With reason's light reviv'd the patriot flame, 
And drags' d forth public guUt to public shame. 
Fell vengeance arm'd corruption's harpy tribe, 
And strove to murder whom she could not bribe. 
Dauntless he brav'd the storm ; still imdismay'd, 
Proclaim'd the people and their rights betray'd ; 
Made tyrants tremble on their blood-stain'd throne, 
And truth and freedom mark'd liim for their own. 

From the close intimacy that existed between sir Francis Bur 
dettand Mr. Tooke, it is evident that the former must have possessed 
the full confidence of the latter, and therefore knew whether or 
not he was the author of Junius. If he were not, sir Francis 
could not, with any show of propriety, have expressed himsell' in 
the manner he has. The poet's license by no means justifies 
such extreme departure from truth. If Junius was distinct from 
Home Tooke, the latter could not, by the greatest latitude allowed 
to figurative speech, be said to have carried on the warfare against 
the government singly. Junius had too great a share in that 
business to admit the assumption. But admitting Home Tooke to 
be Junius, the license here taken is excusable ; for the burden ap- 
pears to have fallen almost exclusively upon Junius. He says 
himself, in a postscript to his private letter to Wilkes of Sept. 7, 



4'JO APPEiVl}lX. 

1771, "I will not omit this opportunity of observing to you, that 
/ am not properly supported in the newspapers. As to myself it is 
of little moment. I can brush away the swarming insects when- 
ever I think proper. But it is bad policy to let it appear, in any 
instance, that we have not numbers as well as justice of our side." 
And in a letter to the same, Nov. 6, 1771, he says, " Besides the 
falibility natural to us all, no man writes under so great disadvan- 
tages as I do. I cannot consult the learned. I cannot directly 
ask the opinion of my acquaintance, and in the newspapers / am 
never assisted.^' 

Junius, therefore, was the person to whom the lines of sir Francis 
Burdett peculiarly applied. They could be applied to no other. 

No. V. 
JUNIUS DISCOVERED. 

Mr. Barker has given several versions of an account of the 
discovery of Junius, from which the following is extracted : 

" Five letters are deposited in the archives of the Grenville 
family at Stowe, which estabhsh, beyond the possibility of doubt, 
the real author of Junius. This eminent individual was politically 
connected with Mr. George Grenville, the grandfather of the pre- 
sent duke of Buckingham, from whom these autograph-proofs 
have descended to the present possessor. The venerable states- 
man has requested the discovery should not be published during his 
lifetime. 

The simple history of the discovery is, that some six weeks ago,"*' 
as lord Nugent and his grace of Buckingham were private-paper 
hunting in the Stowe-libraiy, they lit upon a parcel studiously 
concealed in a, to them, unknown recess. The parcel contained 
three letters : one from Junius under his fictitious signature ; an- 
other to George Grenville asking for legal advice as to the risk of 
publishing the letter to the king with the real name ; and a third, en- 
closing Jimius's letter to lord Mansfield, with the author's initials.-}- 
References are made in the last to a letter from George Grenville 



* This communication is dated Oct. 1827. 

■\ Junius's first letter to lord Mansfield was sent to Mr Woodfall for publication 
Nov. 12, 1770, and the decease of Mr. George Grenville occurred in that month 



APPENDIX. 



421 



to the author. The duke went off post-haste to Dropmore with 
the parcel. Lord Grenville at once recognised it, and declared 
his intention of providing for the j)ubliciry of the documents after 
his dea'h — buf not till then. At his requesi:, the duke and lord 
Nugent have pledged themselves to silence, till that event shall 
have taken place ; and thus I, and all others interested in the matter, 
are forced to stille our curiosity as well as we can. Curiosity is a 
questionable phrase here — it smacks of Eve and Eve's daughters. 
I care not who wrote the letters ; but I wish to know, as a curious 
chapter in the history of the human mind, the motives, which im- 
pelled the great libeller in the first instance to write those matchless 
productions at such an expense of time and trouble; and which 
urged him to conceal himself, when the storm had passed over, and 
when the fame of those letters was far more than a counterbalance 
to the risk of the discovery. After all, I fear I shall not have a 
hundred years to wait for the gathering of the noble statesman to 
the last mansion of his fathers." 

It is added, that lord Grenville said, " He (Junius) is not any of 
the persons suspected." This assertion, if made, will by no means 
invalidate the claims of Mr. Home Tooke. The work of Mr. 
Thicknesse in favor of Tooke, before adverted to, seems not to 
have caused the least notice whatever, and it is very probable that 
lord Grenville never saw or heard of the production. A writer in 
the Literary Gazette, Jan. 12, 1828, (see Barker, p. 309.) observes, 
"From Blakeway's two pamphlets it appears that he, (Home Tooke) 
encouraged the notion that the letters were written by himself !" 
So astonished was the writer, or the publisher of the Gazette, that 
Tooke should have any pretensions to be Junius, that the word 
himself is printed, as above, in capitals, followed by a note of ad- 
miration. This astonishment arose, no doubt, from the effect 
produced by his supposed quarrel with Junius. His abilities were 
never called in question. 

The above remark is the only notice taken of Mr. Tooke, in 
reference to the letters of Junius, in Mr. Barker's book, in which 
the claims of others are fully discussed. Let it be remembered 
also, that his biographer makes no mention of any suspicion rest- 
ing on him in this respect ; and that Mr. G. Woodfall, who investi- 
gated the pretentions of all others brought forward previously to 
the publication of his Junius, is silent as to those of Mr. Tooke. 
Mr. Woodfall, to be sure, gives a facsimile of his hand- writing 



422 APPENDIX. 

among others who had been named as the author, but neglects him 
entirely in the body of the work, which is equivalent to saying, his 
claims are unworthy of notice. Mr. Woodfall knew to the con- 
trary, as I have endeavored to prove, and therefore, the course 
taken by him, as before observed, is one of the strongest evidences 
in favor of Mr. Tooke. 

The foregoing facts fully show that Mr. Tooke has never been 
fairly before the public as a candidate for the honor of writing the 
letters of Junius, and therefore thai the remark of lord Grenville 
does not affect his claims. If true, however, it is a death-blow to 
the pretensions of all others heretofore named. 

Mr. George Grenville, from the time the letters of Junius com- 
menced till his death, in Nov. 1770, was in opposition to the admini^- 
tration, and the partiahty uniformly shown towards him by Junius, 
renders it highly probable that through him the latter derived much 
political information, and a knowledge of ministerial intrigues. The 
club-meetings held at Mr. Grenville's house tend to strengthen this 
supposition. Dr. Fellowes, in a letter to Mr. Barker, asks, " Did 
Burke at this time (1769) form one of the literary junto, that 
constantly assembled at the house of George Grenville ? Did the 
junto subsist after the death of the principal in the November of the 
following year ?" 

Political men, and Mr. Grenville was one, are not in the habit of 
forming hterary juntos. This club was probably christened by 
Junius. 

From the foregoing circumstances, I have full faith in the correct- 
ness of the report respecting the discovery at Stovve ; and have no 
doubt but that, when it is made public, it will confirm my opinion in 
regard to Junius. 

The Stowe discovery accounts for the cause of suspicion resting 
upon Charles Lloyd, who, being private secretary to Mr. George 
Grenville, was probably employed in transcribing communications 
from him, as well as conveying them through Woodfall, to Junius, 
Mr. Grenville not choosing to trust to a common carrier. 



APPENDIX. 423 

No. VI. 
LETTER FROM DAVID GARRICK 

TO H. S. WOODFALL.* 

Nov. 20, 1771. 

" Sir, — I am obliged to address this letter to you and to 
appeal to your probity — in that, and my own, lies my defence against 
a most unprovoked and illiberal attack made upon me by your 
celebrated correspondent Junius. — Had you not convinced me, that 
the letter 1 received last Monday night, was really written by that 
genilemau, f •. ould not have imagined that such talents could have 
descended ^.c- :iich scurrility. — However mighty the power may be, 
with which lie is pleased to threaten me, I trust with truth on my 
side, and your assistance to be able to parry the vigor of his arm, 
and oblige him to drop his point, not for want of force to overcome 
so feeble an adversary as I am, but from the shame and conscious- 
ness of a very bad cause. In one particular I will be acknowledged 
his superior ; for however easy and justifiable such a return may 
be, I will make use of no foul language. — My vindication wants 
neither violence or abuse to support it : it would be as unmanly to 
give injurious names to one, who will not, as to him, who cannot 
resent it. Now to the fact, which, till you had explained to me, 
had made no impression upon my mind. I am told in most out- 
rageous terms, and near a month after the supposed crime was com- 
mitted, (for Junius was exactly informed of my praciicesf the day 
after,) that if the vagabond does not keep to his pantomimes, every 
hour of his life shall be cursed for his interfering with Junius. Is 
not this rather too inquisitorial for the great champion of our liberties ? 
Now let us examine into the dreadful cause of this denunciation. 
Mr. Woodfall, the first informer, informs me in a 1 etter in no wise 
relative to the siibject, without any previous impertinent inquiries on 
my part or the least desire of secrecy on his, that Junius would write 
no mote. Two or three days after the receipt of yours, being obliged 
to write a letter upon the business of the theatre to one at Richmond,:|: 
and after making my excuses for not being able to obey his majesty's 



* This letter is in course of publication (1827) with other Garrick papers, by 
Mr. Colbum. — Barker. 

t The word practices, instead of impertinent inquiries, was inserted in the letter 
sent to Garrick. — lb, 

t " This alludes to his friend Ramus. "—rr, Coventry, 



i'M Al»r£NDIX. 

commands, I mentioned to him that Junius would write no more— 
but the triumph that succeeded this intelligence, never reached me, 
.till I received Junius's letter ; and so far was I from thinking there 
was a crime in communicating what was sent me without reserve, 
that I will freely confess that I wrote no letter to any of my friends 
without the mention of so remarkable an event. I will venture to 
go further aid affirm, that it would have been insensible and 
unnatural not to have dgijie it. I beg you will assure Junius that I 
have as proper an abhorrence of an informer as he can have — that 
I have been honored with ihe confidence of men of all parties, and 
I defy my greatest enemy to produce a single instance of any one 
repenting of such confidence. 

I have always declared that, were I by any accident to discover 
Junius, no consideration should prevail upon me to reveal a secret 
productive of so much mischief, nor can this most undeserved treat- 
ment of me make me filter my sentiments. 

One thing more I must observe, that Junius has given credit to an 
informer in prejudice of him, who was never in the least suspected 
of being a spy before. Had any of our judges condemned the 
lowest culprit upon such evidence without hearing the person accused 
and other witnesses, the nation would have rung with injustice ! 

I shall say no more ; but, I beg you to tell all you know of this 
matter, and be assured, that I am with great regard for Junius's 
talents, but without the least for his threatenings, 
Your well-wisher and humble servant, 

D. GARRICK." 

VII. 
THE BIRTH-DAY OF OUR LIBERTIES. 

BY JOHI* HORNE TOOKE. 

Rouse, arouse from this slumber, thou child of oppression, 
Away with this vile, this unmanly depression ; 
Join the bands of thy countrymen armed with thunder, 
To burst all these shackles, these fetters asunder; 
See they charge them, they rush on to conquer or die ; 
See they follow, they tollow, they are broken, they fly! 
They are conquer'd, they perish, no tyrant survives, 
And the day of their deaths, is ihi' first of otir lives ! 

These tyrants supprcss'd, there shall rise up no other, 
But each man behold in his neighbour a brother : 
Equal rights, equal laws, equal blessings shall nourish, 
Peace, justice, and plenty; henceforward shall flourish : 



APPENDIX. i^i'> 

O guard them with jealousy, spurn from this hour, 
The bribe of corntplion tlie menace of power, 
And be this our decision, whilst Freedom survives, 
That the day of its deatli, be the last of our lives. 

No. VIII. 

LETTER TO MAJOR CART WRIGHT. 

" My dear Cartvvright, more dear to me than ever. You know 
that it was brought against me as a treasonable act, that I had 
belonged to a society which gave thanks to Mr. Paine for his rights 
of man : now your letters to the duke of Bedford,* contain much 
more treason against scoundrels than any thing written by Paine 
in the whole course of his life ; and yet I do not hesitate to give to 
you my most deliberate thanks and praise for this most treasonable 
production. I know not which most to commend, its skill or its 
courage ; but for its principle, I still am, and always was ready, in 
any useful manner, to lay down my life. The gout, which, at this 
time, is furiously upon me, abates not one jot of my resolution. But 
the gout affects only my limbs : I fear you will find it in the heads 
and hearts of most of our countrj'men. 

" However — I bono quo virtus tua te vocat — I pede fausto.f 
" Most affectionately yours, 

".I. HORNE TOOKE." 

" Wimbledon, Jfov. 4. 1805." 

No. IX. 
ANECDOTES AND SENTIMENTS, 

or JOHN HORJVE TOOKE, FROM STEPHEN'S MEMOIRS. 

•< No man of our time has ever been an abler or more successful 
advocate for the constitution ; not in its main fabric and dimensions 
only, but in all its various parts, proportions, and combinations. 

" In respect to the people at large, he generally mentioned them 
towards the latter part of his life with respect ; ' they only wanted 
instruction ; for the bulk of mankind always mean well, even when 
they are in the wrong.' Like Phocion, however, he entertained 



* " The State of the Nation, in a series of letters to his grace the duke of 
Bedford."— Jones Nevvgato-street. 1805. 
f Go where thy valor calls thee— go with prospered step.— t4?n. Ed. 

54 



■126 APPENDIX. 

but a slight opinion of their judgment : and, hke him too, was buJ 
little solicitous of their approbation." 

Whenever he was told of a new ministry, it was his constant 

observation, " this will do no good ; if the — whigs come in, 

they will turn tories ; it is not the men that should be changed, but 
the system ! He was accustomed, with Swift, to define party — ' the 
madness of many for the gain of a few.' 

" Law, in his opinion, ought to be, not a luxury, for the rich, but 
a remedy, to be easily, speedily, and cheaply obtained by the poor. 
When told, that the courts of justice ' were open to all,' he replied : 
' and so is the London Tavern — to such as can pay for the enter- 
tainment !' 

" To the delays of chancery he was a mortal foe, and quoted 
his own case, a few years since, as a proof of it, adding, 'I can- 
not now make my will for want of a decision !' 

*' He always declared loudly against ' political judges ;' and, oil 
being asked his precise meaning, he observed, < that the chancery 
and king's bench were fully sufficient to occupy the attention of 
any two mortal men.' 

"Early in 1810, Mr. Tooke's various disorders had suddenly 
assumed such a violent appearance, that his physicians were 
alarmed, and all his friends supposed his dissolution to be at hand. 
On this trying occasion, the tender assiduity of his daughters, by 
administering to all his wants, contributed not a little to soothe his 
mind and assuage his sufferings. They constantly attended his 
pillow, anticipated his wishes, and did every thing that filial piety 
could dictate to alleviate the pressure of disease. 

" On this occasion, the patient did not seem desirous of prolong- 
ing existence ; he was actually devoid of that volition deemed so 
necessary to recovery. 

" At length, however, he appears to have yielded to the entreaties 
of his friends and relatives ; and nature havmg, at the same time, 
spontaneously interposed, after a severe but successful struggle, 
life, which seemed, at one time, to have ebbed nearly to the last 
drop of existence, now flowed in upon him in a genial current. He 
prophesied, however, from the first, that the change so much de- 
sired, would not prove of long continuance, and considered himself 
merely as a traveller on a journey, detained unwillingly and 
against his better reason, in consequence of the pressing solicita 
tions of others. 



Api^jjiNinx. 4*27 

" Happening to ride over to Wimbledon (says Mr. Stephens) one 
JKorning during the spring of 1809, Mr. Tooke showed me a large 
bundle of manuscripts, which was supposed would prove sufficient 
to form a third volume of his great philological work. As he was 
in some doubts as to this circumstance, he desired me to guess ; 
and, to enable me to approximate the truth, I began by taking the 
number of the pages. The next step was, to ascertain the lines 
and the words in a single page, and, after multiplying these together, 
and making a comparative estimate with the printed copy, I pro- 
nounced, without hesitation, that there was enough to make one 
volume and a half, at which he seemed much pleased. 

" During his last illness he formed the resolution of destroying- 
all his manuscripts and every other paper, or writing, title-deeds 
and account-books only excepted. The operation was performed 
in an apartment above stairs, and lasted during a whole month ! 
An incessant fire was kept up for that purpose, and one of the young 
ladies, who was obliged reluctantly to assist in the conflagration, 
has since very appositely compared it 'to the burning of the 
Alexandrian library.' On this occasion the manuscript alluded to 
above was wholly consumed ; a most valuable correspondence was 
at the same time committed to the flames, together with a treatise 
on Moral Philosophy, in express opposition, as I understand, to the 
prmciples laid down by Mr. archdeacon Paley. It is not a little 
remarkable that the life of the author had nearly been sacrificed 
at the same time with his works ; for the combustion became so 
violent as to extend to his clothes, and actually scorched his great 
coat :o such a degree as to render it utterly unfit to be worn again. 

" I have been intbnned, by a gentleman who has been praised by 
him, in vol. ii. and is no mean judge of every thing appertaining to 
language, that the first word in vol. iii. thus unrelentingly destroyed, 
was, " belief ;" and that a large portion of the manuscript consisted 
of a critical examination of the credibility of human testimony." 

Upon this occasion, I apprehend, all the manuscripts of .Junius 
were consumed, that no vestige should remain to implicate any 
living soul in the mysterious transactions of the author. It cannot 
be conceived that Home Tooke, unless he were Junius, could have 
accumulated such a mass of papers requiring from their secret 
nature such total extinction. We have seen that the letters of 
Junius were all returned to him by Mr. Woodfall ; and, that the 
•=ecret of authorship should, as he had declared, perish with Mm. 



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V2b APPENDIX. 

their destruction was imperiously demanded to close an avenue that 
would lead to certain detection. The motives inducing such an act., 
apparently so rash, cannot reasonably be accounted for upon any 
other supposition than that the original letters of Junius composed 
a part of the materials thus committed to the flames. 

By the perusal of the life of Mr. Tooke during the times of Junius, 
the reader has seen that the efforts made in both characters con« 
stantly tended to the same end — that wherever Tooke appeared 
personally, Junius never failed to prompt him from behind the 
scene — that no measures against the government, during the 
whole period, were undertaken without their joint co-operation. 
— In short, that no object could be more faithfully represented by 
its shadow than the one by the other. — Is it then possible to believe 
that the fictious and the real character are two distinct persons, and 
moreover, political enemies ? and above all, that their animosity 
should have arisen irom the quarrel of Tooke with Wilkes ? The 
contempt and detestation so often expressed by Junius towards the 
latter ought to dispel such a delusion. The decided and strong con- 
trast in the characters of Junius and Wilkes must have presented 
an insurmountable barrier to any cordiality of feeling between them. 
The one actuated solely with a view of promoting the public good, 
the other concentrating all his patriotism into a single focus — self- 
aggrandizement. 

The supposed misunderstanding therefore between Junius and 
Tooke, when the ostensible cause of it is taken into consideration, 
will appear to be in opposition to every principle that governs 
human action. This fictitious dispute consequently, which is relied 
upon to disprove their identity, tends more than any other circum- 
stance that can be brought to bear upon the question, to substantiate 
the fact. 

In conclusion, the testimony and arguments adduced in this 
volume in reference to Junius, are respectfully submitted to the 
candid consideration of the reader. 



THE END. 



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